The Greatest Trial
by Chrisanthanum
Summary: Jessie and James have done a lot of wrong things in their career, but when they are accused of murder, they have no choice but to get out of town.
1. The First Trial

"The Greatest Trial", by Chrisanthanum  
  
Part 1 - "The First Trial"  
  
Jessie, James, and Meowth were walking down the dirt road of a tiny town that wasn't even on the maps. It was one of James' shortcuts. Of course.  
  
There was nothing less than typical. It was a beautiful summer day, the wind blowing back James' hair, allowing it to shimmer in the sun. James rather liked days like this, and places like this.  
  
The weather had put him in such a good mood, that James had just bought Jessie an ice cream. For once they didn't have to worry about Ash and his Pikachu. This is just what they needed, a day off from work, work, work.   
  
They're old hide out, the cabin, had long since been destroyed, and they were forced to be forever nomadic.   
  
It was on this bright, sunny morning that they were about to get the shock of their lives.  
  
A cold, gloved hand landed on Jessie's shoulder. She jumped and turned around, and stared right into the cold eyes of Officer Jenny.   
  
"You're under arrest!"  
  
James looked at Officer Jenny, and then down at his side where he thought Meowth was, only to find Meowth was all ready gagged, and in Officer Jenny's van.  
  
"What did we do?" James asked bluntly, a little annoyed that they were going to be arrested on such a pretty day.  
  
Officer Jenny did not look pleased. "Don't play stupid, Mr. Morgan."  
  
James turned a shade of scarlet, not liking anyone to address him by his last name. It only brought back memories of his old family.  
  
"You're under arrest for murder, as you very well know!" Officer Jenny continued.  
  
"WHAT?" Jessie and James said together.  
  
"Oh, no no no, Officer," Jessie said, pleading on her knees. "We've been under arrest for lots of things, mostly stealing things, and disturbing the peace, but we wouldn't... we wouldn't do THAT you have to believe us!"  
  
"You both have a criminal record, why should I believe you?" Officer Jenny said coldly, her hands on her hips.  
  
James looked at the ground. "What... what have you done with Meowth?"  
  
"He's going to the Institute For Dangerous Pokémon," she said scoweling. Seeing the look of outrage on Jessie and James' faces, she added, "You should consider yourself lucky. At least YOU get a trial."  
  
Jessie glared daggers at Officer Jenny. "Meowth doesn't get a trial?"  
  
Officer Jenny sneered. "Meowth isn't a human."  
  
"He's just as human as you and I!"  
  
"Slime like you isn't very human at all, you can tell all that to the judge. Your trial is going to be in three months. Find a good lawyer, but I doubt either of you will have a chance."  
  
~*~  
  
They found a lawyer, all right. But just like just about everyone else, he didn't believe that Jessie and James were truly innocent, no matter how much Jessie and James pleaded their story.  
  
In three months, when the trial came, the turnout was amazing. The entire town of Celadon had turned up, or so it seemed. There was hardly a seat in the courthouse.  
  
Judge King was ruling the court. The prosecuting attorney gave Jessie and James evil glares from his side of the courthouse.  
  
James was still unable to keep his eyes off the ground, and Jessie was especially aggressive.   
  
The sound of the judge's mallet brought silence to the court. "The prosecution may begin its case."  
  
The prosecutor, a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes paced down the courtroom. "I am here to prove to you, citizens, that these two, plus their accompanying Meowth have committed murder. We all know that one of the Nurse Joys has been murdered. She was murdered right in her pokémon center on Orange Island, where we know that these two criminals were at the time of the crime, following witness Ash Ketchum. It's obvious what happened was that the defendants were waiting out side the pokémon center, waiting for everyone to leave. As soon as they were sure it was empty except for Nurse Joy, they walked in with their large automatic guns that we have confiscated, and told her to give them all the pokémon in the center. When she refused, they let lose with the firearms. Realizing what they had done, they ran from the scene of the crime, through a small town that they were found and arrested in."  
  
"I would like to call my first witness. James Morgan, please stand."  
  
James looked terrified to be the first witness, but he stood, and made his way to the witness stand.  
  
"Raise your right hand," said the bailiff. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?"  
  
"I do," James said miserably.  
  
He sat down.  
  
"Now Mister... James was it? Yes. Do you own any automatic weapons?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
The court gasped.  
  
"Well, that is to say before they took them away from us...!" James said coldly.  
  
"Yes, well... did you ever use these guns to harm anything?"  
  
James thought about this. "The only thing we might have ever shot was a Dragonite near Bill's lighthouse. I didn't really want to..."  
  
The prosecutor curled his lip. "Haven't you ever used one of these large guns for hurting other things besides a Dragonite?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Have you threatened to?"  
  
James squirmed a little, and glanced at Jessie. She was biting her lip, and looked like she was about to cry.  
  
"Please answer the question," said Judge King.  
  
"I PLEAD THE FIFTH!" he wined, shoving his hands in the Judge's face in a gesture of begging for mercy.  
  
The prosecutor looked satisfied. He paced the room, and then stopped at his desk, and picked up a yellow envelope.  
  
"These, ladies and gentleman of the jury, are pictures of the crime scene shortly after the body was found. The agents that inspected the bodies found no finger prints. This means, of course, that the murderers had to be wearing gloves. When the defendants were arrested, they were both wearing gloves. It was also evident that they had recently been washed. Clean of blood perhaps? Most likely! Officer Jenny noticed they were damp when she yanked them back to hand cuff them before they tried to run. Would you tell me why you were wearing gloves?"  
  
"Standard uniform." James said simply.  
  
"Standard uniform for what?"  
  
"Team Rocket Sector Dan."  
  
"So you admit you're on Team Rocket?"  
  
James felt like he was being pressured, he said as calmly as he could, "I didn't deny anything about Team Rocket."  
  
"Could you tell us why your gloves were damp?"  
  
"We... we had just washed them," James said miserably.  
  
The prosecutor smiled to himself. He had him cornered. "Why did you just wash them?"  
  
"Because we were eating ICE CREAM!" James shouted, and put his head on the witness stand in  
frustration, also so no one could see him start to break. "ICE CREAM, was there anything immoral about ice cream? Vanilla, chocolate, chocolate chip, who really cares about ice cream?! If eating ice cream is a crime we're guilty as charged!"  
  
They're attorny stood. "Please your honor, I would like to plead insanity for this witness."  
  
The prosecutor ignored him. "What KIND of ice cream?"  
  
"Strawberry cream." James said crossing his arms in front of him. "And Jessie had that one kind that is all those different colors all swirled together. What's it called, Jess? Superman?"  
  
The prosecutor looked surprised, and then said, "No further questions."  
  
"The defense can now cross examine the witness," said the judge, sternly.  
  
Jessie and James' lawyer stood up.  
  
"James, why is it you're in Team Rocket to start with?" he asked softly.  
  
James was taken off guard. "What? How is that going to help me?" he looked up and saw the judge's stern face, and gulped. "I... I ran away from home, sir, and Team Rocket was the only way I could get some money, because I couldn't get a really good education because I was always moving. But I did try... I entered a school called Pokémon Tech, where I met Jessie. We studied really hard, and we knew all our facts... but on the night before the big test we stayed up because we were so sure... and... we just didn't cut it... and so we had to run, because it was the only thing we figured we could do at that age. We joined a bike gang, and they gave us protection until we were old enough to go out on our own. We learned about Pokémon with this gang, and we were able to train our only Pokémon. Mine was a Koffing. But because of some of the stuff we've learned... we've... we've become more successful trainers. We never at any time abused our Pokémon. When we heard of Team Rocket, they wanted us in. So we joined. And since then it's the only way someone like me can make any money... and I need some to survive, you know! We all do!"  
  
The lawyer smiled a little, and mouthed to James, and then continued. "Why did you run away in the first place?"  
  
James looked at the lawyer with a look of death, but continued anyway. "I lived in a huge estate; some of you probably have heard of my parents; The Morgan Estate. Huge place; well, my parents didn't think of me as a son," his lip curled, "All I was to them was an heir. I had a Growlithe, and that's it. And then they wanted to marry me off to someone they thought was perfect. I hated her more than anything I ever hated. She wanted to change me into something I wasn't! And that's why... I had to get away from her and my parents,"  
  
"I object!" said the prosecuter. "This information has nothing to do with the case! We are talking about murder, your honor, not the sad story of this troubled young man's youth!"  
  
"He's right," the judge said. "Can you explain yourself?"  
  
"These two aren't bad kids."  
  
"Do you have any further questions, sir?"  
  
"No... I'm finished," the lawyer said, taking his seat again.  
  
Flustered, the prosecutor told James to step down, and then called on Jessie. They swore her in, and she took a seat.  
  
"What's your name please?"  
  
"You know my name," Jessie snapped.  
  
"Say it so the jury knows, please, Miss,"  
  
Jessie and James' lawyer stood once more. "This one is hostile!"  
  
The Judge looked on the lawyer skeptically. "So the other one is insane, and this one is hostile?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Jessie looked slightly offended. "My name is Jessie." She said raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Have you been convicted of any other crimes before, Miss Jessie?" he asked calmly.  
  
Jessie glared at him. "That's not a fair question."  
  
"Please answer his question," Judge King said firmly.  
  
"Yes. Yes I have."  
  
"What crimes, if you wouldn't mind telling us?"  
  
Jessie took a deep breath. "Theft, disturbing the peace, poaching, impersonation of a authority figure," she paused and began counting on her fingers. "hacking into a federal computer, harassment, sexual harassment, driving without a license, trespassing, destruction of public and private property, and I think that's it," she said stubbornly.   
  
The jury mummbled amung themselves.  
  
"But," Jessie's voice was softer, and somehow seemed like it was shaking. "I would never kill anybody."  
  
James looked up at her. He had never heard her speak so gently nor truthfully.  
  
The prosecutor glared at her.   
  
The Defense Attorney again stood.  
  
"Jessie, did you have a similar reason for joining Team Rocket as your partner?"  
  
"Yes," Jessie said pursing her lips.  
  
"Would you say that many of the members have a similar reason?"  
  
"I would," Jessie said, crossing her legs.   
  
"Have you or your partner ever really harmed a person?"  
  
"No," Jessie said, "But THEY have harmed us. We've been blasted, shot at, blown up, torched, drown, frozen, whipped, and most of all shocked... electric rat."  
  
"One last question, Jessica, is it true that you were wanted in the city where the murder was committed?" he said with a small grin on his face.  
  
Jessie shook her head immediately. "Oh no, we weren't wanted there at all! In fact in that town James and I were honorary citizens!"  
  
The lawyer grinned triumphantly. "Would you tell us about that?"  
  
Jessie crossed her legs. "The towns pokémon were turning against them, and we were the ones who helped stop the parties who's fault it was, and they made us honorary citizens. Of course we didn't show up for the award ceremony, it would have been shameful. We've been welcome there for a long time; how do you think we go the ice cream?"  
  
"I'll call my next witness," the prosecutor said impatiently. "Officer Jenny, please step up to the witness stand.  
  
After Officer Jenny was sworn in, and Jessie had sat down, he questioned her too.  
  
"Miss Jenny, have you had dealings with these two before?"  
  
"Yes, I have, they cause a lot of local trouble. My sisters and cousins and I all deal with them."  
  
"Yes of course. I rest my case."  
  
There were mumbling among the jury members.  
  
The judge glanced at Jessie and James' lawyer, but he shook his head, not wanting to cross exam the witness.   
  
He stood up, and said kind of miserably, "Since I all ready asked Jessie and James what I needed to, I don't have any more witnesses to call."  
  
Jessie and James looked at him shocked. "We're... we're doomed," James managed.  
  
"In that case," said the judge, "you may give us your closing statements,"  
  
The lawyer took a deep breath. "It is evident that these two did not commit this murder. You are to assume they are innocent until proven guilty without a shadow of a doubt. They didn't have any reason to kill Nurse Joy. They're honorary citizens there, they wouldn't do that anyway, but especially at a place that finally some people give them the love they deserve after a life of hatered. They both didn't get it from their own families, and Team Rocket is their job, not a hobby."   
  
He sat down. Jessie put her head in her hands, and started to cry. "James... I... I don't think he believed us either," she whispered.  
  
James nodded sorrowfully.  
  
The prosecutor got up and sneered at Jessie and James, as he began. "The witnesses are guilty. The only two that the defense could question about it was the criminals themselves! They're gloves had just been washed, and we know that the murderers were wearing gloves. Who else could it be but Jessie and James? That ice cream is just the first thing that came into James' head, and he knows it. Also remember that these two are incredible actors, as we have seen in some of their other MANY ruthless schemes and arrests. You can't believe any of the sob stories they tell!"  
  
The judge dismissed the jury. In only thirty minutes they returned with their verdict.  
  
"We, the jury, find the defendants, Jessie and James, guilty of murder, a capital offence."  
  
Jessie and James looked stunned. They thought that losing their job was bad... this was worse than they could have possibly imagined. They were going to get death. They were going to die!  
  
Jessie broke down and cried, and James found her hand, and gave it a little squeeze, as if to tell her, "Jess, it's going to be all right. We didn't kill that nurse, and soon they'll see the truth."  
  
Jessie seemed to get the message, and wiped her eyes on James' shirt.  
  
The judge made his speech, dismissed the court, but neither Jessie nor James heard any of it. Everyone exited the courtroom, and a young girl, maybe a little younger than Jessie, approached them.  
  
"I believe you," she said, "I was in the town that day, I work here, I work for the lawyers, I know how these courts work. Jessie, James, I want you two to run away from here... as far away as you can. And try not to get caught, please, try, Stay away long enough until my counterparts and I can find out who really did kill Nurse Joy, and then you will get a full pardon. If you stick around here, by the time they find out, it may be too late," she looked at them sadly. "Come with me before they lock you up,"  



	2. And So They Ran

"The Greatest Trial" by Chrisanthanum  
  
Part II- "And So They Ran"  
  
And so they were on the run again. But this time they weren't chasing some boy and his Pikachu. They were running for something else. They were running for their lives.  
  
Where to? They weren't sure. Not to the Orange Islands, they knew that cops would be swarming the place looking for them. But they couldn't help wondering if being honorary citizens would get them anywhere in that one town. Funny they couldn't even remember its name now. And they couldn't go back to anywhere even near where the trial had taken place. To be near there would be suicide, even more so than the crime scene itself.  
  
They didn't know where they were going, but they knew they had to find something different than their old Team Rocket uniforms.  
  
From the kindness of the girl who had stopped them in the courtroom, James had gotten some some-what baggy jeans and a green shirt, which really brought out the color in his eyes.  
  
Jessie had commented stiffly that he looked almost handsome, but James could tell what she was really thinking, and tried to hide a grin. Instead, he said, "Yes, well, I really don't think green is my color."  
  
He was amused by the look on Jessie's face.  
  
Jessie had gotten short khaki shorts, and a sleeveless dark blue shirt. She had also combed her hair so instead of curving the way it normally had; she was able to put it in a ponytail. A very long ponytail.   
  
She insisted that James did something different with his hair, but James stubbornly said that he liked his hair just the way it was.  
  
They had one plan, and that was to find a boat and get away. In another direction from Orange Islands, they knew they would find another chain. A chain without it's own pokémon league, and yet pokémon were as popular their as they were in the rest of the world. This is where they were going to escape, no one knew them there. They had never been there. It was perfect.  
  
Running from Celadon wasn't an easy thing either, even in their simple disguises. After they had gotten away from the courthouse, and away from the girl who had helped them's house had helped them, they only had a map and a direction to follow.  
  
It was late, and the stars were out. They tried their best to stay in the woods, and avoid main roads. Everyone would be after them when they found out to murderers were on the loose.  
  
James, as all ways, tried to be optimistic, even though he was feeling other wise. He sang softly a song by The Steve Miller's Band called "The Joker," until Jessie told him to shut up before someone heard them.  
  
Secretly, after a while, Jessie wished she hadn't because the silence was even worse than the quiet, "I'm a joker, I'm a smoker, I'm a midnight talker," ever was. James did have a good voice; maybe her nerves were getting the best of her.  
  
After almost fifteen minutes of both of them saying nothing, Jessie finally murmured, "I wish they hadn't taken Meowth from us."  
  
James nodded. "They'll let him go when they find us not guilty though."  
  
There was another long pause, as they made their way over a fallen tree.  
  
"And James... what if they don't find out we didn't do it? What if we're on the run forever... until... until someone catches us? And then... well, puts us to..."  
  
"Don't think about it," James said sharply.  
  
And so Jessie tried not to.  
  
And after a while, she heard his voice again:  
  
"Some people call me a space cowboy  
Some call me the gangster of love  
Some people call me Maurice  
'cause I speak of the pompitus of love"  
  
Jessie smiled. Why was she being so negative anyway? They had been on the run before, and she knew that they wouldn't get their way, but it all ways turned out all right. And they were all ways able to try again. After a while she joined him in the singing, and it took their minds off the cold, and the long walk. She even laughed, when James sang (rather loudly), "I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree!"  
  
Before they knew it, they were sitting on a hill out in the open watching the sunrise. The hill over looked the port to Cinnabar Island. They had come a long way in one night.  
  
"Where are we supposed to go now, James?" Jessie asked her partner, the fear gone from her voice.  
  
"We should go... West. We need to follow the coast," James said sure of himself.  
  
"No, I mean... aren't we going to sleep and eat?" Jessie said looking at her partner oddly. It wasn't like James to forget about food.  
  
"Oh, yeah, I AM kind of hungry... but who are going to take in a couple of murderers for lunch?"  
  
Jessie laughed, "You're right, James! It would sure be Chansey!"  
  
James sniggered. "No fair stealing my puns," he said. He took a deep breath, and looked over the hill.  
  
"The pun... is the lowest form of humor," Jessie sneered.  
  
"Camping out again, just like always. The only question is where we're going to get food," Jessie said.  
  
"Same way we always have when we were in a town where we weren't wanted, I guess," James sighed.  
  
"No… we don't have any disguises this time," Jessie said. "What are you doing?"  
  
James was looking through his bag. "They'll never catch us!" he laughed maniacally. He pulled out some lipstick and other make up.   
  
Jessie stared for a moment. "James you actually think…" and then started laughing.   
  
James looked at her stubbornly. "Well, I think that you look different with your hair like that… why not change your look a little more? And mine too."  
  
Between laughter, Jessie managed, "I just DARE you to borrow one of my bras and stuff it!"  
  
They both laughed at there own cleverness, and Jessie fixed her makeup, and helped James with his cross-dressing.  
  
Jessie put on a pink lipstick instead of the usual bright red, but let James have that color. She outlined her eyes totally differently, and with the new clothes and hair and makeup, no one would be any the wiser.  
  
James did end up taking Jessie's suggestions… all of them. He borrowed two hair ties, and put his hair up in pigtails. With lots of red lipstick, and green eye shadow, Jessie assured him that he looked perfect.  
  
And after a quick double check in the pond, they both thought they looked different enough to go down to the city and find a nice crab bar, and get some lunch. "It's amazing what just a little make up can do," said Jessie, still laughing at James appearance.  
  
They walked down the hill, and into the town. Here they saw a wanted poster of themselves, and an Officer Jenny telling some people about how they had escaped. But she looked them right in the eyes, and even smiled. She didn't realize it was them. She wasn't expecting them to have any way to pull off one of their famous costumes…  
  
They walked into the crab shack, and sat down at a table in the corner.  
  
In a few minutes, the waiter came. He was tall, and handsome, with somewhat messy brown hair, and sparkling brown eyes. He smiled at Jessie, and then goggled at James.  
  
Jessie tried not to laugh, and James turned a shade of pink.  
  
"Hello, ladies," he said, winking at James. "May I ask what I can help you with, and if you may, your names?"  
  
Jessie glanced up, and said, "My name is Millie,"  
  
"And how about you, pretty thing in pig tails?" the waiter asked.  
  
"My name is… um… Andria," James said awkwardly with his high girl voice.  
  
"And my name is Steve," said the waiter. "So nice to meet you, Millie and Andria. Now what can I get you to eat?"  
  
"I'll have some shrimp," 'Millie' said with a small grin.  
  
"And I'll have some fried fish with a donut for dessert please," 'Andria' said. Millie gave him a sharp jab in the chest. "Err… I mean… forget the donut, just fried… catfish, please," Andria corrected.  
  
"Yes of course, it will only be a moment," Steve the Waiter said.  
  
As soon as he was out of hearing range, Jessie glared at James. "Just you reconsider ordering a donut! What kind of idiot do you think he is?" she lowered her voice to a whisper, "The police are after you, they'll be tracking you… they know everything about the both of us, including our favorite foods! We can't give them the slightest lead, not the slightest!"  
  
James grinned a little. "Sorry," he said very softly.  
  
A few minutes later, Steve returned with their orders, water for Millie, and a Shirley Temple for Andria.  
  
"Fixed up something special for you, Andria, it's on the house," Steve said, giving Andria another wink, before walking off.  
  
Jessie was beside herself. "I think we did a little TOO good of a job, they're supposed to be looking at me!"  
  
James flushed. "Well, next time I have to be a girl, be sure to make me look ugly!"  
  
They ate their lunch slowly, even though they were both absolutely starving. Jessie reminded him that they didn't want people to think they hadn't eaten in a while, and people might get suspicious.  
  
They had some time to talk about what they were planning to do, in hushed voices. They were going to go west along the coast. Hopefully, when they reached a point where they couldn't go west anymore, they would find a boat, or someone to lend them a boat. And to the islands they would go. They would find a small one, and stay there until they found out that the real crook had been caught. How long could that be? James estimated that they would be back home in a month's time, and Jessie agreed.   
  
And then they started talking about Meowth. They missed him, though they would never admit it. James voiced the opinion that he felt very sorry for him having to be all locked up and alone, and that he couldn't be running away with them.  
  
Jessie nodded, allowing her rarely-seen-but-always-there sensitive side show a little. "I hope they're treating him okay,"  
  
There was a long silence. Then Jessie frowned, and added harshly, "but HE doesn't have to worry about getting death!"  
  
James flushed, and motioned for her to keep quiet. He changed the subject hastily.  
  
James then began to talk about Giovanni, and wondered if he had heard about them, which should have gone unsaid because everyone knew that Giovanni always knew what was going on.  
  
Jessie motioned for him to shut up when she saw Steve returning to take their checks.  
  
"Hello again," said Steve. "I can take your checks now,"  
  
Jessie shoved some yin across the table, and said, "tip's in there,"  
  
Steve said, "Thanks," gruffly, and then turned to Andria. "Look babe, if you ever wanna you know… go out or something sometime… would you like my number?"  
  
"No sir I…" James felt a sharp pain when Jessie kicked him. "I… have no objections! Hehehe… I can't give you mine though, dear, I… I'm always on the run, you know. Rarely home…"  
  
"Oh, I understand," Steve said, scribbling his number on a piece of paper. He then leaned over to give Andria an affectionate kiss on the cheek, but James stood up quickly, causing him to kiss air.  
  
"We really should be going," said Jessie, nervously. She was red, but not nearly as red as James.  
  
Steve noticed this and took it as a good sign. "Well, bye then…"  
  
They tried not to run away from the place too quickly, but they couldn't exactly help it. As soon as they were over the hill again, and out of site, James expressed his opinion loudly that he didn't like cross-dressing. But it didn't exactly matter, because Jessie was laughing so hard.  
  
James removed his make up, and let his hair back down.  
  
Jessie didn't bother to change her appearance; she really didn't care.  
  
A gust of wind blew a shiver through James' back, as they walked away from the port…   
  
Jessie wondered if she would ever see this place again. Some music was playing in her mind, some beautiful music… she closed her eyes, and could hear the chords on a piano somewhere, and the sound of a guitar… it seemed so familiar, so familiar that she couldn't understand why she didn't remember the name of the song she was listening to… but somehow, she could all ways think of it, like it had been a song she had known her whole life. And for some reason it always calmed her down when she was stressed.  
  
Over the hill in the thick woods, James and she set up camp. All they had was a sheet of tarp that they hung over a tree branch for a tent. They supposed as they went along they would eventually get more materials…  
  
The ground wasn't hard, so near to the beach… it was just a little sandy. It was a little strange sleeping during daylight hours, but they knew they had to. They would travel by night, eat in the early morning, and sleep the rest of the day until it was dark…  
  
It didn't take James long to fall asleep on his bed of sand, but Jessie stayed awake a little longer, listening to a bird in a tree before finally drifting off… to a night of sleep… but little rest. The dream would not allow her any.  
  



	3. Brilliant Disguises if I Say So Myself

  
  
(Authors note: The information about Jessie from here on out is mostly from my opinion, because I don't know as much about Jessie's past as James. But if you see any major errors in my interpretation, please e-mail me, and for crying out loud, let me know! GeniuswithaJ@aol.com)  
  
  
"The Greatest Trial" by Chrisanthanum  
  
Part III- "Brilliant Disguise, If I Say So Myself"  
  
It started with just the song. The soothing melodies of the piano against the sweet sounding guitar like a knife through butter. She heard more of the song than she ever had, but it simply faded out, and she never heard how it ended. She never did. Nor did she hear the beginning. She just seemed to hear the middle.  
  
"This will never work." Said a voice that was familiar, but she knew she had never heard before, even in this dream…  
  
"It has to work! I have a family to feed!" Said another voice. It was the same feeling, except this one sounded so much more close to her, in a way…  
  
Her sleep became deeper.  
  
"It's good, but no one would take low class people like us seriously."  
  
"But my girl, she…"  
  
"You'll have to forget about her, I can't let you do this."  
  
"What? Who…"  
  
There was a blood-curling scream.  
  
And then the sound of a baby crying. Then she heard the sound of its mother sobbing. But Jessie couldn't see any faces, she could just hear them talking. Still it sounded so real, like it had happened before.  
  
  
  
She suddenly woke up. James was shaking her shoulder.  
  
She glared at him. "James, what are you doing?"  
  
"Trying to wake you up!" James said annoyed.  
  
She secretly thanked heaven that he had done so, because the dream had been painful. But she would never admit that. "James, you idiot! We don't have a whole lot of time to sleep, how are we supposed to…"  
  
"You were screaming," James interrupted. He placed a hand on her cheek, and dried a place where tears had been.  
  
Jessie shivered. His hand was freezing.  
  
"You were crying, too," James said. "You had me worried, what's wrong Jessie?"  
  
Jessie didn't feel like telling James anything right now. "Nothing, James! Look, the sun is still out, we should be asleep. Please keep in mind that we didn't have a whole lot of time to just hang around and chitchat. We can talk, but only when we're moving, do you want them to catch us?"  
  
"No," James said. "But that's why I woke you up. You were screaming," he repeated.  
  
For a moment, Jessie was almost about to thank him. But instead she rolled over on her stomach. "Go back to sleep, James, I'm fine."  
  
  
  
But she wasn't. The Dream returned. This time no different than the last. When it came to the part when the screaming, and the crying, she felt it inside of her. A kind of lurching in her stomach. She wanted to wake up, and she wanted to find out what would happen all at the same time. But once again, James nudging at her shoulder awakened her.  
  
She wasn't mad.   
  
"It's time to go," James told her.  
  
She looked up at the sky. The first of the stars were coming out.   
  
"Oh," she said, and got up. "What's that?" she asked, when she noticed James had a piece of paper folded in his pocket.  
  
"What's what?"  
  
Jessie blinked. "That piece of paper in your pocket."  
  
James gave her a strange look, but reached down in his pocket and pulled out the paper. He unfolded it, and announced with surprise, "It's a map!"  
  
Jessie grabbed at it. "That girl gave us more help than we thought!"   
  
She looked it over. She pointed to a point on the map. "There's cycling road. And there's Lavender Town, I think. We must be here, right next to that small port. Yes, that's exactly where we are! Oh James…" she looked at him joyfully. "Do you see what I see?"  
  
James looked at her, and said, "I've never been one to really notice anything…"  
  
"I know that!" Jessie said, in such a good mood, she didn't whack him with anything. "I'll tell you then. If it took us one night of traveling to get from here to here, then we could make it to the west shore in a night's travel too, if we hurry! Maybe tomorrow, we'll be sleeping in a boat with real beds… and food in the cabin…"  
  
"What if we only find a canoe?"  
  
She kicked him in the shin. "Don't rain on my parade!"  
  
James groaned. "Sorry, Jess…"  
  
"Now lets go!" Jessie said in a much more cheerful mood. "I'm ready, I'm…"  
  
"Jessie?"  
  
Jessie looked behind her at James who was looking at her with worried eyes. "What is it, James?"  
  
"While you were sleeping… was it a dream?" he bit his lip.  
  
"Of course it was a dream, James…" she smiled a little, and said gently, "Don't be worried for me, it was just a nightmare."  
  
James didn't look convinced, but said calmly, "Okay, I believe you."  
  
The moon was almost full, and it was a very clear night. The only sounds were chirping of bugs. To any other teenagers, it would have seemed like a very romantic night. But Jessie and James had known each other for so long, and were so close to each other, a romantic thought didn't cross their minds.   
  
"What are we going to do about costumes next town?" Jessie asked her partner.  
  
"I'm not being a girl!" James said immediately.   
  
Jessie put her hand in her pocket as she wondered what they would do when her fingers curled around another piece of paper. It was a package of some kind. Her curious hands felt around and found another one. She removed them, and laughed, figuring out what they were, and what the girl expected them to use them for.  
  
James looked over his shoulder, and raised an eyebrow. "Is that… it is! Kool-Aid! We won't have to starve for so long after all! Let's find some water, that ought to keep us…"  
  
"No, James!" Jessie said sharply, pulling the packages out of his grasp. "We aren't going to eat this. Do you notice what flavor they are?"  
  
James blinked, and looked at them. "Yes. One is lemon, and one if tropical punch, and those were my favorite flavors as a lad…"  
  
Jessie shook her head. "Not that, stupid! I didn't say that right… the colors."  
  
"The colors?" James asked curiously. "Yellow and green."  
  
Jessie put them back in her pocket. "Or more accurately, a blonde color and a teal… haven't you ever heard of coloring your hair with Kool-Aid? With our Rocket uniforms on, and with a little bit of changes in our hair, we could look just like…"  
  
"Butch and Cassidy!" James finished, and chuckled. Then he stopped. "I WOULD HAVE TO CUT MY HAIR!"  
  
"Small loss," Jessie said. "So would I. No big deal. It'll grow back."  
  
James stared at her. "I don't WANT to cut my hair!"  
  
Jessie glared at him. "Then I'll have to cut it for you! Do you want to get put to DEATH?"  
  
"No…"  
  
"Well, neither do I!" Jessie said putting her hands above her head in exasperation. "If we're Butch and Cassidy, we could probably get a boat easier too. And they aren't wanted, they've all ready been put into jail several times before, no one is expecting them to try anything big so soon after an arrest…" she laughed to herself.  
  
She looked at James, and put her hands on her hips. "I don't want to dye your clothes, James. We might as well wash them, anyway… we have to find a lake with fresh water."  
  
James finally gave in to cutting his hair. He asked mournfully how long the color would last, and Jessie said she didn't know, but it probably not long. He then asked how long it would take to grow his hair back, to which Jessie replied sharply, "James your hair grows faster than bread mold! You're practically having to cut it every two weeks, you should be more worried about my hair, it took me years to get it this long!"   
  
After a few hours of walking, they came to the river they were hoping for.   
  
"Well…" Jessie said, kind of awkwardly, "I suppose we should… erm… take off our clothes…"  
  
James flushed. "Yeah, well, we'll still have our underwear, nothing worse than when we're at the beach…"  
  
"That's true," Jessie said nervously. "But no gawking!"  
  
She stripped quickly, and as casually as she could, and tossed her khakis and shirt in the lake. She shivered, because it wasn't that pleasant to be outside near water in the middle of night in your underwear.  
  
James was mature about it, and did the same. He tossed the jeans and green shirt in the lake, and they floated next to Jessie's. He shivered. He heard Jessie laughing, and he turned his head. "What?"  
  
"What are THOSE?" She asked still laughing.  
  
"What are… what?" James asked turning a little pink. He looked down. "These shorts?"  
  
"YES!" Jessie said laughing hysterically.  
  
James smirked. "I have team spirit!"  
  
They were white with little red 'R's all over them.  
  
Jessie was still chuckling to herself, when she realized that they had thrown the map and the Kool-Aid in the lake. "OH CRAP!" she yelled loudly, realizing their mistake.   
  
"James, we forgot to empty the pockets!"  
  
James turned white. "You're not expecting me to…"  
  
"Get in that water right now!" she yelled.  
  
James groaned, and waded in the water. His teeth chattered. "I'm freezing…" he said when he reached where their clothes had drifted. He reached into his pocket, and found the soggy map, and in Jessie's to find the packages of Kool-Aid. The map was wet, but it wasn't that bad, and as soon as it dried it would be fine. The Kool-Aid was also fine; thank goodness they hadn't opened it yet. He crawled back to shore.  
  
The water was as cold as ice that stabbed into his back like so many little needles or knives. He came out onto the sand, and fell into it, shivering.  
  
"James, get up!" Jessie snapped. "You're getting sand all over you!" James got up, and sat on a rock. He tossed Jessie the map, which she hung on a tree branch to dry. Then he handed her the Kook-Aid.  
  
"You sit there," she said, "dry off… where's that bag of yours?"  
  
James pointed, and Jessie walked to the duffel bag that had the only things they possessed in the world inside.  
  
She opened it, finding James' pocketknife. She shook her head. "This won't do… do we have any scissors?"  
  
James nodded, and said, "You have some fabric scissors in there somewhere. You know the ones you and Mondo use to repair the balloon with?"  
  
"Oh yes, I remember," Jessie said, finding her sewing kit. Inside was a pair of sharp scissors that would work perfectly in cutting James' hair.  
  
"Now just sit still!" she said. She also found a small container that they used when they were camping out to hold water. She filled it, and walked over to where James was sitting on the rock.   
  
He was still obviously cold, and uncomfortable. "Don't feel so bad, in a second you'll be doing this to me," she said, and dumped half of the water into his hair.  
  
James gasped, and winced as the cool water ran down his back. Jessie opened the tropical Kool-Aid, and poured the powder on his head. She scrubbed it in like soap, and soon his hair had turned that color after several minutes of hard scrubbing.   
  
"Almost done!" Jessie announced, and dumped the rest of the water on his head, mixing it in, and finishing the process. James made an annoyed noise, and then went to go look at his reflection in the lake.  
  
"MY HAIR!" he yelled. "My perfect blue hair…" he moaned.  
  
"I always thought it was purple," Jessie said, as she pulled him back to the rock so she could cut it like Butch's.  
  
James bit his lip. "There should be a law against destruction of perfection…"  
  
Jessie grinned an almost evil smile. "That's what I used to say to Meowth. But Meowth isn't here. And it's only temporary!" She made the first snip, and some of James' silky hair fell down into their bag. ("We can use this later, we'll think of something")   
  
"Ugh…" James moaned again.   
  
"Stop your wining," Jessie said, cutting some more.   
  
In a few moments his hair was ear's length, just like Butch's. Jessie combed it and parted it in the middle of his head.   
  
When she was finished, she said, "You look perfect! Now go back in the river, bring back your clothes, hang them to dry, and start on my hair!"  
  
James looked at her like he was going to collapse. She nudged him off the rock, and sat down.  
  
He walked back to the river, all hunched over, feeling awful about the currant state of the world. He waded in the water again, retrieved the clothes, and walked back. He tried to smile at the fact that he was about to do the same thing to Jessie, but took little pleasure in it.  
  
He filled the container again, and walked to up to her. "Where's the Kool-Aid?"  
  
Jessie looked up at him and winced imagining James totally ruining her hair. He took the water, poured, and then followed with the Kool-Aid, and poured again. Her hair wasn't as shiny, but she was a blonde. And after a few moments, the shine did return.  
  
"Did it work okay?" Jessie asked softly.  
  
James nodded. He got Jessie's scissors. Jessie looked at him nervously. "You do know how to handle those, right?"   
  
"Of course," James said casually. He parted her hair down the middle, and pulled a little in front of her face. The first section in front of her face, he cut off very completely from her forehead down.   
  
He stood back, and looked at her, and grinned, holding her several feet of hair in his left hand.  
  
Jessie looked stunned. "What are you doing??"   
  
"It's just that I've never seen you with bangs before," James said, putting her hair in the bag.  
  
Bangs. Jessie had forgotten.   
  
James searched through the bag for Jessie's Super Ultra Strength Industrial Hair Gel, and put some in his hands, rubbing them together. He worked on the left section first, making it stick out in the right direction, and then took out the scissors, and cut her hair into the three-pronged fork style that Cassidy had.  
  
Jessie's eyes darted around nervously, and nearly screamed when she heard James laughing to himself.  
  
"Oh my gosh, James, what have you done?! Is my hair ruined for life?!"  
  
James shook his head. "This hair… with it like this sticking out, and half done… you look like Sailor Moon on a bad day."  
  
Jessie was not amused.  
  
James casually walked to the other side and did the same thing to the right side.  
  
He walked around her and looked from all sides. "Perfect!" he said.  
  
Jessie ran to the lake, and looked down in astonishment. He wasn't lying. "It is…" she mumbled. "How did you do it, James? I didn't know you knew how!"  
  
James looked at her with a perplexed grin. "Yeah, of course I do, I have lots of practice. It was one of the things Jessebelle taught me; she said it was necessary to know…" he sighed. "Well, for once, I'm glad she did teach me, because you look exactly like Cassidy!"  
  
Jessie saw something else in the lake that made her moan. The reflection of the sun coming up in the water.  
  
"We didn't make it, James, it looks like a whole other day of traveling for us… and no food either!" she put her head in her hands.  
  
James tried to be optimistic. "Well, we look just like we need to look! And it was well worth it, and I'm sure I can catch some fish before we go to sleep!" but inside, he too was crying.  



	4. The Dream

Part IV- The Dream  
  
Jessie was very unhappy about not only not getting to spend today asleep on a boat feeling the warm sun against her face, but actually having to stay in a mosquito invaded lake in the middle of no where. She sulked, and went to the tree where their casual clothes were. The clothes were now clean, and dry.  
  
James walked up to her. "If we're Butch and Cassidy now," he said, "Shouldn't we be in our Team Rocket uniforms?"  
  
Jessie sighed. "Let's keep them neat for tomorrow morning. That's when we're getting our boat, you know."  
  
James nodded, and yawned. He took his green shirt off of the tree branch and put it on. He shivered, because it was still a little damp, but it he knew that as soon as the sun was all the way up, he would probably be grateful for it. He pulled on his jeans. They were now comfortably worn after being thrown into a river, and put through two days of hiking.  
  
He glanced over at Jessie, who has also put on her clothes.   
  
They both walked silently back to the lake. The birds were chirping, announcing the sun as it came up. It was a beautiful dawn, but not one Jessie and James could enjoy.  
  
Jessie went one way to set up their tent on the shore, so they could be in the soft sand again.   
  
"James, I'll be over here in the woods looking for firewood, okay? I'll be right back," Jessie said as she walked into the woods.  
  
James in the mean while, was trying to figure out a way he was going to catch a fish. He could use his shoestring as a string, but he had no pole, or bait. Or maybe it was the other way around. He had plenty of poles; long strong sticks lined the place where the sand met the dirt. And he could probably find a worm of some kind. Maybe the problem was that his shoestring was to short. Now, completely confused, he picked up a sharp twig and hurled it into the water, where it landed with a splash.   
  
He searched the bag, and finally found a piece of very thick thread once again from Jessie's sewing kit. He grinned to himself. What a useful thing that kit turned out to be!  
  
In a few moments, he had a fishing pole set up and was just planting it in the sand with the string and hook hanging in the water when Jessie returned from the woods.   
  
"I'm back," she announced. She gave an acknowledging glance towards James' pole. "Good work."  
  
She tossed the wood in a pile, found their binoculars in their bag, and using the glass started a fire.  
  
No sooner did James come up to join her did he hear a splash, and have to run back to get the fish that he had just caught. He returned a few minutes later holding the flopping fish triumphantly in his hand, with a big smile on his face.  
  
Jessie was impatient, and didn't want to wait a moment longer to congratulate James. She took the fish, and held it by its tail. Almost casually, she whacked it quite forcefully on a stump, killing it with one blow.  
  
James stared for a moment, and then said softly, "I couldn't have done that…"  
  
"Well I could," Jessie said coldly, "I'm starved."  
  
She then took James' pocketknife out again, and cut into the fishes gut, and began to remove its insides.   
  
James turned a brilliant shade of green, and ran to the lake where he lossed his lunch. He always was easily sickened by stuff like that… when he was in school, he couldn't even cut open a caterpie for a biology project.  
  
When he returned, he saw that Jessie had jabbed a stick through the fish, and it was roasting in the fire.  
  
She looked at him with an amused grin and a twinkle in her eye. "What kind of man would be so squeamish?"  
  
James just shuddered. "I don't like that, I just don't."  
  
Jessie laughed. "I should have gutted a fish there in court… if you couldn't have stood THAT, then I'm pretty sure that the jury would have seen that you couldn't have killed a person!"  
  
They laughed for a moment, and then there was a silence again. The fire crackled.  
  
James' eye twitched. He was all ready very sleepy; he didn't know if he could stay awake long enough to eat the fish.  
  
Jessie gave him a whack, and he woke up again.   
  
She then cut the fish in half, and gave him his share. "There are bones in it, just be picky, James… this isn't sushi."  
  
James nodded and ate the fish, while mumbling, "Sea food… that's probably all we're going to get to eat for a long time. I'm all ready getting sick of it."  
  
Jessie laughed.   
  
~*~  
  
As soon as her head hit the pillow, the dream returned to Jessie's mind.  
  
"This will never work."  
  
"But it has to, my children…"  
  
And then the scream. The crying.   
  
Jessie moaned in her sleep, and she felt hot tears running down her face.   
  
But tonight, there was more. There was a long blank where it was just screaming and blackness, and crying. But the sound of that faded out, and the song returned. The soothing piano music, and the beautiful chords on the guitar raced back to her. But this time she heard something else. She heard the same voice of the same man who had screamed and he was saying, "That's a wrap, that was 'Silica Island'…." And then she heard the end of the song that had plagued her for so long.  
  
  
~*~  
  
She woke up again, and the sun was just setting. She stretched and yawned, wiping the sleep out of her eye with one of her hands. She didn't feel rested, but somehow she felt a sense of refreshment from finally hearing the end of the song.  
  
She rolled over, expecting to find James still asleep in the sand. She jumped a little when she saw he wasn't there. She looked outside the tent, and he wasn't there either.  
  
She ran out to the campsite, and he still wasn't there.  
  
"JAMES?" she called.  
  
"Mmhmmm?" Came his voice. She looked up and saw him up in a tree.  
  
She glared up at him. "James, why are you in that tree? You scared me to death! I thought they had caught you!"  
  
James shook his head. "No, they haven't caught me. I had just woken up early, and kind of wanted to see the sunset before I woke you up."  
  
"Oh," Jessie said, putting her guard down. She looked at the horizon, and sure enough over the lake was a beautiful sunset  
  
"You're up early," James said, as he jumped down from the tree. "The way you were screaming I would have thought that you wouldn't get any rest…"  
  
"Was I screaming again?" Jessie said softly.  
  
James nodded, concern in his eyes.  
  
"Well I'm not rested," Jessie said changing the subject. "So let's get going!"  
  
She opened the bag, and tossed James' his Team Rocket uniform.  
  
James caught it, and commented aimlessly, "You need to put some more gel in your hair after you put that on, you know."  
  
Jessie glared at him. "I know that, I've used gel with my OLD hair too!"  
  
James grinned, and changed into his Rocket Uniform. It was still clean and pressed from the trial, and it gave him a great feeling of contentment to be in his old duds again.  
  
Jessie was also changing into her Team Rocket uniform. She felt much better about hiking being in her good old boats then those annoying tennis shoes. Her feet were just not meant for that.  
  
They grinned at each other as they slipped on their gloves.  
  
"We're ready!" James said.  
  
Jessie shook her head, and then said in a sultry Cassidy voice, "Oh no, say it like Butch."  
  
"Oh sorry," James said in a raspy voice coming from his throat.  
  
Jessie giggled. "Perfect!"  
  
"I bet Butch is a smoker…" James said.  
  
"Me too," Jessie agreed.  
  
Together they walked west. They could hear the ocean; it wasn't that far away to the south. And maybe soon, they could hear it coming from the west too.   
  
It took the whole night's worth of walking. But just as the sun was rising they saw the sparkling water, and a harbor.  
  
Jessie felt like she could jump for joy, as if they had gotten away from the cops for good. She smiled at James, who smiled back.  
  
"Well, I suppose," said James, "That we should go down there, and get some more to eat, right?"  
  
Jessie nodded. "And we have to see if we'll get into any trouble with these disguises."  
  
They walked down together, and found a place that was serving breakfast tacos.  
  
It was really a tiny town, smaller than even Pallet, or Cinnabar Island. But there was one or two homes, and a store that was also everything else the town needed, including a restaurant.   
  
They went inside, and sat down.  
  
"Oh waiter!" Jessie said loudly in a snobby voice.   
  
A serious faced man turned around, and walked over to them unblinking. He was probably about twenty. He had a black shirt and an expressionless poker face. He looked Jessie over, and then said, "You're in Team Rocket." It was a statement, not a question.  
  
"Yeah, we are!" Said Jessie. "But we're off duty right now, and we're just passing through…"  
  
"And will you please," James said in his raspy voice, "Stop wasting our time and get us some breakfast?"  
  
The waiter nodded. His eyes were as cold as stones, Jessie thought.  
  
After a few minutes he returned with some eggs and bacon as well as some toast. He put it in front of them.  
  
"Thank you," Jessie said politely.  
  
The man walked away without so much as a glance in her eyes.  
  
As soon as he was gone, James said, "Whoever that guy is, he gives me the creeps."  
  
Jessie nodded. "I know what you mean…"  
  
They mumbled in silence together as they ate their breakfast about their waiter. Jessie whispered softly that maybe he knew who they were. James was very positive that he didn't. These disguises were the best they ever had. His suspicious glance was only because they were on Team Rocket. In such a tiny town people weren't used to Team Rocket members coming into a diner to eat like normal people. Just because they were members of Team Rocket didn't mean they had to eat too. In Celadon, though the people were nervous of them, they allowed Team Rocket members to be part of their town like normal people. Because they were normal people.  
  
When they had finished their breakfast, they got up slowly.  
  
The waiter saw them leaving, and walked to their table to collect.  
  
James handed him the yin that their meal had cost, and then asked gruffly, "Do you know of a place we can rent a boat?"  
  
Stone Face (Jessie and James had come up with this nick name for him since they didn't know what else to call him) nodded gravely. "As a matter of fact, I have a boat… but you won't have to rent it, I'm trying to get rid of it. You can have it; it's of no use to me… I have a Lapras now."  
  
A shiver ran down Jessie's spine. The thought of using a boat that Stone Face had given them some how caught her wrong. She looked at her partner, who didn't seem to be having the same feeling.  
  
"We'll take it," James said.  
  
~*~  
  
Stone Face lead them out and pointed to a medium sized speedboat. It wasn't a cruise ship as Jessie had dreamed, but it wasn't a leaky paddleboat as James had imagined either. There was enough room in the back for all of their stuff, and two seats.  
  
"It's yours," Stone Face said coldly.  
  
Jessie and James stepped into the boat and it felt pleasantly perfect. James sat down in the drivers seat, and leaned back. Jessie got in the passenger seat next to him.  
  
"Leaving all ready?" Stone Face said with no tone in his voice.  
  
Jessie nodded. "We told you we needed a boat… would you kindly set us free?"  
  
Stone Face cut the rope, and James stepped on the gas. There was a whir as the engine started, and a loud splash from the wake that splattered out onto shore. James drove it as fast as it would go, much to Jessie's delight. "I always knew you were a good driver! We really should get you a license!"  
  
The speed of the boat blew Jessie's hair back and she laughed. James glanced at her uneasily and said, "I would like to feel the wind blowing my hair back too… but it's short now."  
  
Jessie just laughed at him. "I don't think we're going to sleep today… that is until we find an island…."  
  
They were too busy having fun (they couldn't help it) that they didn't notice a small object with a red light flashing on and off softly beeping…   



	5. The First Island

"The Greatest Trial" - By Chrisanthanum  
  
Part V- "The First Island"  
  
  
It was nearly noon by the time they finally did reach an island. It wasn't the dream island they were searching for; it was far from small. But it wasn't huge either. The settlement was larger than the one of the port they had just left. It would be a place they could relax, and sleep. They were both exhausted from being up so late in the day.   
  
"I hope the news of us hasn't reached this place," James said looking at Jessie. She was all ready pretty much asleep. She opened her eyes a little, and glanced at James through narrow slits. "Why? We have our disguises," she yawned.  
  
James shook his head and touched a strand Jessie's hair breaking the hold of the gel so he could pull it in front of her face.  
  
Jessie gasped. It was obvious that the Kool-Aid treatment was wearing off. Her hair was kind of spotted: It looked like a red surface that had been splattered with yellow paint. She looked at James, and his hair was no different. It was less extreme, maybe, because his and Butch's hair wasn't exactly too different in shade, but it still gave the effect of a dark blue surface splattered in green paint.  
  
"We're regular works of art!" James groaned.  
  
"Ugh!" Jessie said, swinging her booted feet on the dashboard of the boat. "We're going to be really noticeable now! And when they see red and blue…. They aren't stupid, James, they'll figure out what we pulled at that port! We can't wash it out, because then it would be even worse, and we don't have anymore to color it again…"  
  
"Hats." James said simply.  
  
Jessie glared at him, and whacked him with her fan. "We don't HAVE any hats!" Jessie looked like she was about to boil over. "ARRRRG!!! NOTHING IS GOING RIGHT TODAY!!!"  
  
James glared at her. "Jessie, you're lucky no one is here on this beach!" he said as he finally pulled the boat into a small cove where they could dock it.  
  
"Don't give me that, James!" she screeched.  
  
James helped her out of the boat, and said, "Well, we might as well comb our hair down and change clothes. If any one questions us we could just say it's the latest fashion."  
  
Jessie sighed, and pulled the bag out of the boat, swinging it over her shoulder.   
  
"Well, I guess we should change… you have a comb, right?"  
  
James looked at her as if she has gone mad. "Of course I do, Jess, just because we have been gone a few days doesn't mean I have to stop caring for my hair!" he paused, and added with a hint of sadness, "even if it is a bit shorter…"  
  
Jessie grinned a little. "Well, change over there!"  
  
In a few moments, they were out of their Team Rocket uniforms, and into the now slightly tattered casual clothes combo. Their hair was combed: Jessie's was now free of the hair gel (it looked as though she had dunked her hair in the ocean, because it was wet and sticking to the back of her shirt) and James was simply combed in a different style. Examining them selves in the water, James announced, "you know, it really could be the latest fashion!"  
  
Jessie yanked on James' sleeve. "Come on! We have to find a motel!"  
  
James looked at her oddly. "WHAT?"  
  
Jessie looked at him confused for a moment, and then slapped him. "To sleep in, you cross-dressing pervert!"  
  
James laughed nervously to himself. "Oh… Hehehe… right…"  
  
They walked down the beach together in silence, glancing up at every shack hoping it would be a place they could sleep. They finally found one after thirty minutes of walking.   
  
It was beautiful. It was made entirely of bamboo, aside from the roof, doors, and the wooden platform it was being supported on. The roof was probably made of bamboo too, but it was made so it appeared to be made of strictly palm leaves. The doors were framed in bamboo, but other than that, they were your typical screen doors.  
  
James placed his hand on the knob, and gave it a twist. They walked inside, and there was a girl who looked to be maybe fifteen years old sitting behind a desk, with her hands folded in front of her very officially. She had green hair tied back in many braids that each had a blue bead at the end. She had a tan, and eyes that matched the beads perfectly. She was wearing an orange skirt with a slit that ran up a good much of her leg, and a bikini top that was also that same shade of blue.  
  
She smiled at them as they entered. "Hello travelers! My name is Zoe. My father owns this place, but he's not around right now… but I can help you." Her voice was high and seemed to reflect the sound of the many birds that were on the island, and the sound of the water hitting the shore.  
  
Jessie and James blinked at the same time.  
  
She smiled at them politely. "Now… can I get your names?"  
  
Jessie and James glanced at each other, and then glanced around the room for ideas. Jessie's eyes found a can of RC Cola on the girl's desk. James spotted a woven mat in front of the door that people could wipe their feet on.  
  
"RC," Jessie said quickly. "And my name is Matt," James added.  
  
"And I suppose you want a room with bed? You are a couple, right?" Zoe asked softly. Shyly avoiding James' glance.   
  
"NO!" They both said in unison.   
  
She looked up at them again with a perplexed look on her face.  
  
"Um… that is to say," said James placing one hand behind his head.  
  
"He's my… brother!" Jessie exclaimed.  
  
"Oh!" Zoe giggled. It seemed to Jessie that there was a sense of relief in the girl's eyes. Probably a girlish crush that was based only at the first glance at a guy. Looking at James, she could tell he didn't notice anything. She became somewhat suspicious of this girl.   
  
"Well, it's just that you look like you're both the same age, and I thought..."  
  
"We're twins," Jessie snapped sharply.  
  
"Even though we don't look it!" James added.  
  
Zoe looked at them oddly, and then asked softly, "Is that hair natural or…"  
  
"Colored!"  
  
"All of it!"  
  
"He's really a blond!"  
  
"And she has black hair!"  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
Zoe looked at them even more oddly, and then laughed and said, "Riiight… Anyway, if you follow me, I'll take your bag, and I'll show you to your room. With two beds!" she laughed.  
  
She took their bags, and started walking them to their room.   
  
  
~*~  
In the middle of the night, James, who was half asleep, heard the pat of bare feet in his room.  
  
His teeth chattered, thinking for a moment that the police had found them… but that wasn't possible, was it?  
  
His eyes darted around the room. He saw Jessie, sound asleep… her hair was still spotted, so he supposed his was too… but he could tell there was a bit more red in there. He hoped no one notice anything.   
  
And then he saw the person doing the walking around in their room: Zoe. She was walking towards their bag! He jumped out of the bed and walked like a cat silently across the room behind her.  
  
She had her hand on the zipper. She was about to open it and find out all of Jessie and James' secrets when…  
  
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Zoe screamed, and turned around quickly to see who had put their cold hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Oh… Matt… it's just you."  
  
James didn't say anything. He looked over his shoulder to where Jessie was sleeping. She had stirred. He took a deep breath in relief when she simply mumbled something and turned over on her back. He didn't want to be the butt of her waking up in the middle of one of her beauty sleeps.  
  
"What were you doing in our room?" James whispered.  
  
"I was well… you were all ready asleep, and it's still light outside and… I was worried…"  
  
James' eyes narrowed. "We're leaving as soon as it's dark, don't worry about us!"  
  
Zoe looked at James' sadly. "I was just… Matt are you… just passing through then?"  
  
"Yes," James said softly.  
  
"Oh… well, it was just that… I kind of thought that we could… get to know each other a little."  
  
James was taken by surprise. "I'm sorry, but I just don't have time for that... and aren't you a little young?"  
  
She looked at him, sadly, and said, "I'm seventeen. You're… your name isn't really Matt, is it?"  
  
James was silent.  
  
"Come with me…" she said.  
  
James followed her back into another room. She turned on a television.  
  
"We have reports that the two murders on the loose are on an island called Bronze Island. We've been tracking them since they left from a port somewhere near Lavender… I repeat, the murders will soon be captured…"  
  
She switched off the television.  
  
"Jessie and James… the two murders on the loose, right here in my own place…" she sighed. "I didn't want to have to do this, but since you couldn't even admit who you are, you must really have killed her. James…"  
  
"We didn't!" James said.  
  
"Then why are you on the run?" She snapped.  
  
"They were going to kill us! Wouldn't you run?" James yelled. His hand searched in his pocket for a pokéball he could use to put her to sleep… then remembered he had none.  
  
"I hate to do this," he said. "But we can't have you telling the police where we are. Please forgive me, you really were a nice girl…" he rose his hand to give her a whack to the head which would knock her out, when she screamed.  
  
"Oh please, please don't do that!" She sobbed.  
  
James hesitated.  
  
The girl continued, "James! I... I'm attracted to you. I wouldn't want to turn you in! Maybe I have a thing for dangerous guys..."  
  
James curled his lip. "How do I believe you?"  
  
"I can't make you believe me, but I'll let you use our boat! Your trail will stop here, please trust me James!" The girl begged.  
  
James put his hand down. "I'm not going to hit you, I guess… But we can't leave you here, you're going to tell the police."  
  
"I won't!"  
  
James narrowed his eyes. "You're coming with us."  
  
"You would let me come with you?"  
  
Before James could respond, she closed her eyes and gave him a long kiss. He pushed her off hesitantly, and said "you can come with us... but please don't do that again."  
  
  
~*~  
"WHAT?" Jessie yelled. "What do you MEAN 'can we take Zoe along with us'?! Just because you, like an idiot, let her know who we really are! We have to get away from the island; we'll have to steal another boat! The police are probably after us!"  
  
"She said that we could use her boat!" James wined.  
  
"And why are you trusting her? James, I thought you had half a brain in between your ears!" Jessie snapped. "The answer is no, no, and no!"  
  
James bit his lip. "Please Jess, won't you hear me out?"  
  
She crossed her arms in front of her. "No, James, absolutely not."  
  
James looked at the ground and mumbled, "At least our hair isn't spotted anymore…"  
  
"Shut up, James! Just shut up!"  
  
There was a silence. "You have to let her come… at least if she comes we can keep an eye on her and we'll know if she's spotted anything…"  
  
Jessie's face lit up. "Hey… what if we let her come along, that way we'll know what she's up to!"  
  
James looked up at her with a weak smile. "That's a great idea Jess…"  
  
"Yes, I'm glad I thought of it!" she said, and walked out of the room to get the girl.  
  
~*~  
By the time Officer Jenny and her group got to the island, James and Jessie were gone.   
  
"Drat!" Jenny yelled kicking sand.  
  
A bare-footed man in a tropical t-shirt, and obvious native to the island, suddenly ran up to the woman in blue. "Officer! Officer!"  
  
She turned at him with an annoyed look on her face. "Sir, I'm sure I don't know the meaning of this, but this is a police investigation!"  
  
"But Officer!" the man sobbed, "My girl has been stolen!"  
  
"What?" Officer Jenny said, now facing the man. She pulled out her note pad. "Okay, tell me what you know!"  
  
"Officer, I had gone out fishing last night to get my princess a new water pokémon, and left her at the motel that I run alone with her! When I got back, I saw that our boat was gone… but there was another boat I've never seen before near by! At first I was worried, and then I figured that the owner of the other boat accidentally took ours by mistake, but then I got back to the hotel, and my darling was gone! I saw in her diary that she had let two people have a room, a man and a woman, but they were gone also…" he sobbed.  
  
Officer Jenny for a moment looked sympathetic, but then said, "A man and a woman did you say? We tracked the murderers Jessie and James to this island, but their signal stops here! Do you think your daughter recognized them as Jessie and James?" she showed the portly man a picture.  
  
The man shook his head. "I don't think so… my daughter didn't write much about the woman. But she was very describtive about the man. She said his name was Matt, and he had green eyes and blue and green hair."  
  
"Both colors? How so?" Officer Jenny inquired impatiently.  
  
"I don't know!" he said.  
  
"It has to be them!" officer Jenny exclaimed. "They're probably trying to use one of their disguises! But that won't work this time! Sir, we're on the trail! We'll bring your daughter back to you from those murderers!"  
  
"Murderers…" the man sniffled. "Do you believe she's in danger?"  
  
"Yes sir, I believe your daughter may be in great trouble! What did you say her name was?"  
  
"Zoe," he moaned. Me pulled out his wallet, and showed her a picture of his daughter. In the picture Zoe was holding a surfboard, and had a huge smile on her face. She was giving the 'V' for victory sign, and was in a rubber scuba suit.  
  
"Tell me all about her!"  
  
"Well.. she's 17 years old, though she doesn't really look it... she looks young... like her mother. Maybe fourteen or fifteen. She loves water Pokémon, and she is a very kind and gentle girl. She loves to write stories, and she loves music... she has a lovely voice..."  
  
"We'll find her!" Jenny said again before she and her group boarded several police wave runners and went to find Jessie and James. They had them for kidnapping now too… when she found them, she had it in her mind to shoot them on the spot.  



	6. The Second Island

"The Greatest Trial" - By Chrisanthanum  
  
Part VI- "The Second Island"  
  
Jessie insisted on driving the boat this time. She said that if she didn't she might fall asleep. James didn't understand what she meant by that, but let her drive anyway.  
  
Zoe hung over the edge of the boat, looking at the fishes they passed as they zoomed along. She didn't get a good look; Jessie was going fast.  
  
James had adjusted his chair so that it leaned back. He put one leg up on the dashboard. His eyes were closed, and his hair was blowing back.  
  
Zoe couldn't tell if he was asleep or not. She stopped looking over the edge, and looked at him. He was so handsome. How could I guy like that be a criminal, and a murderer? She figured that with a face like that, he could be a movie star. She looked up at Jessie. Jessie's eyes were red. She needed sleep; it was obvious. But she was so set on staying awake, for whatever reason. But her condition made it hard for her to pay attention to what she was doing. Maybe this was a chance she was looking for.  
  
She touched his face softly, and moved a loose strand of hair out of his eyes.  
  
He didn't move. He just dozed like an angel.  
  
She looked at Jessie through the side of her eye. She still wasn't paying attention. And she probably couldn't if she wanted to. She closed her eyes, and kissed his cheek tenderly. She looked down at him fondly, like a pet of sorts.  
  
"A good criminal is never really asleep," he said softly, still not opening his eyes.  
  
She jumped, and blushed. "I… I'm sorry."  
  
He didn't say anything.  
  
Why was he so mysterious? She looked at him, a little confused. She could tell she would never be able to tell if she was really safe with these too. If she couldn't even tell if they were asleep, or awake, how could she possibly be safe? Suddenly she wanted to go home.  
  
"Girl," Jessie said in kind of a hoarse voice. "Come up here."  
  
Zoe looked at James again longingly, and then obeyed Jessie. "Yes?"  
  
"You live around these islands, right? Is there one that's small, and uninhabited, and preferably kind of far away from here?"  
  
Zoe thought that over. "Yes, I know of an island like that. Smallest in the chain, it's all jungle. No one lives there, and it's a ways off. I'm not even sure if it's considered part of this chain."  
  
Jessie smiled sinisterly. "Good. We're going there."  
  
Zoe opened the glove compartment, and pulled out a map. She pointed to a tiny speck. "That's it. Just go west. Into the setting sun."  
  
Jessie glanced at the map, and yawned. "Good… take over for a minute…"  
  
Zoe was too nervous of them to argue, so she took Jessie's place at the drivers seat.  
  
Jessie pulled a tiny mirror out of the bag that they carried, and looked into it. She groaned. Her eyes were red, and her hair was frizzy. She ran her hand through her again totally red hair, and looked at her reflection sadly. "I was so beautiful."  
  
She inspected her eyes. They were red and puffy. "I need sleep…" she mumbled. "But I must not dare to close my eyes," she thought silently to herself. "Or that dream will come back." But she was so close to falling asleep at this point, that the dream had all ready started. She heard the piano. It seemed to take her further into the land of nod. The piano continued to play its beautiful, yet sad melody. Beautiful and sad. That was like her, she thought, as she drifted off. She wanted to hear the music, and she wanted to hear that voice at the end that seemed so familiar, but what she didn't want to hear was the screaming, and the evil cackle of… of whoever it was that was killing them. But she had no control over it now, she was asleep.  
  
She woke up suddenly. She was looking up in the green eyes of her partner. She jumped up. "Oh did I…?"  
  
"Fall asleep? Yes. But don't worry, the girl is driving."  
  
Jessie groaned. Her eyes weren't red anymore. The rest had done her good. "Where are we?"  
  
"Half way to the island Zoe said you picked for us," James answered.  
  
"Oh, yes, of course…" Jessie said half-heartedly. The end of her dream was just going through her mind again. "That was 'Silica Island'… and this is a wrap." That reminded her.  
  
"Girl, what is the name of this island, anyway?" she asked, as she sipped some water from a glass for her to wake up with.  
  
Zoe shrugged. "I think it's called Silica Island."  
  
Jessie coughed furiously, and spit out the water. "It's called WHAT?"  
  
"Silica Island!" James and Zoe both said at the same time.  
  
Jessie shook her head. "I must be hearing things, it cannot be called what I heard. It is not called Silica Island, it isn't, is it?"  
  
Zoe looked at her strangely, and nodded.   
  
Tears came to Jessie's eyes. She didn't want to go there. That was the place, that was the island's name in her dream. But she couldn't stop them. If she told them to turn around, it would jeopardize the whole thing. She couldn't let that happen.  
  
"What's wrong, Jess?" James asked.  
  
"I… I have a bad feeling about this." She said.  
  
Zoe made a face. "It's just your bad luck at my island, don't worry, this place is perfect."  
  
"You're right…" Jessie said. "Carry on…"  
  
James and Zoe looked at each other. "Are you sure, Jess?" James asked. "You really aren't acting like yourself."  
  
"I'm tired!" Jessie snapped.  
  
James smiled a little.   
  
"How long until we're there?" Jessie asked impatiently.  
  
Zoe shrugged. "Ten, fifteen minutes?"  
  
"Sooner," James said, looking over his shoulder. The sun was rising, putting the sky in an amazing blaze of oranges and purples. And right there, in the place where the sky seemed to be the brightest was a speck of land: Silica Island.  
  
Jessie made a small "irk" sound, which went unnoticed by the others. Other than that, it was silent. All three's attention was on that island that was coming closer to them as the boat sped on.  
  
A wild bird Pokémon flew overhead.  
  
Jessie cautiously went to the front of the boat, and steered it in. She circled the island, looking it over.  
  
"Just the right size," James said. "And I don't see a civilized soul anywhere. Just Pokémon."  
  
Zoe nodded. "I would figure it would be perfect. I don't think anyone could track you down here."  
  
"Why is it like this? You would think people would have taken it over by now."  
  
"Oh they don't want too. There are whirlpools all around this whole island, and gyrados in the water that topple boats over, and eat those who survive. Also, there are ghost stories and silly stuff like that," Zoe said casually.  
  
Jessie didn't say anything. There was a strange feeling in her heart about this place. Just as Zoe said, it was all jungle. And it was beautiful. Once they got there, there would be no way they could find them because of how thick the jungle was. She circled around one more time, and pulled into a cove. They got out, and felt their toes in the sand. The sun beamed down on them.  
  
"Just wait," Zoe said. "I know how officer Jenny won't be able to track you here for sure." She climbed back into the boat, looking for something. She tossed them their bag, and some things they kept on the boat that might prove to be useful later. She then jumped out into the water.  
  
James looked at her curiously.  
  
She pulled at the side of the boat. "Arg… it's to heavy…" she gasped.  
  
James realized what she was doing. He took off his shirt, and jumped in after her. He hooked his elbows over the side of the boat, and pulled down as much as he could. It almost capsized, but not quite. "Jessie," he managed to hiss, "A little help here?"  
  
Jessie looked down at them. "If we sink the boat, how will we get home after this blows over?"  
  
James and Zoe looked up at her impatiently from the water.  
  
"Number one," Zoe said, "you won't have a way to know if it's blown over on this island. Except for the radio I brought from the ship, there's no clue to the outside world."  
  
"Number two," James continued for her, "Better we build a raft later and drift home than keep this here and get caught!"  
  
Jessie looked at them sadly, realizing they were right. She pushed at her end of the boat, and James and Zoe pulled as hard as they could. It put strain on all of them. James groaned, even though out of the three, he was probably the strongest. A drop of sweat went down the side of Jessie's face, as she gritted her teeth, and tried to push the boat over with all her might. Zoe was all ready exhausted; she had never had to work so hard in her life, and unlike Jessie and James she certainly wasn't used to it. Plus, she was treading water in the process.   
  
James winced, and pulled himself up more onto the boat. He almost collapsed, but the extra weight was what it took to finally push the boat over. Both Zoe and James were pulled underwater, and came back up gasping for air. Jessie reached down, and pulled Zoe out of the water. Zoe was coughing and shivering. James swam out from under the boat, and crawled on shore again. They turned their heads the watch the boat sink into the deep cove.  
  
"So… this is home," James said with a hint of sadness.  
  
"Home?" Zoe repeated softly.   
  
"Home," Jessie said.  
  
~*~  
  
They walked further into shore. James wore the bag over his shoulder, and wielded a pocketknife. He was in the lead. Jessie followed, and had a bag of stuff from the boat, and Zoe carried another smaller one. James slashed a vine and walked further into the jungle.  
  
"James, I'm getting tired," Zoe whined.  
  
Jessie and James both turned and glared at her. "You were the one who wanted to come!"  
  
Zoe shut up.   
  
James moved a branch out of the way. He revealed a clearing in the jungle. There was a lake that tapered off into a river that moved slowly and calmly. A magikarp jumped in the water. A bird pokémon that they had never seen stood on one leg in the center.  
  
Zoe gazed at the beautiful scene open mouthed. Her joy didn't last.  
  
"Set up camp, Girl," Jessie and James said at the same time.  
  
It was too bad they still didn't exactly trust her. She knew that Jessie would probably be bossy for as long as she would know her. But it pained her to have James treat her that way too. Maybe it was just an act for when Jessie was around. Or maybe it wasn't. She sighed, and began to get to work.  
  
~*~  
  
"We can't find them anywhere!" Officer Jenny said into her radio. "We thought they were heading towards Pine Island, but there isn't a trace of them, and none of the locals have seen them. Over!"  
  
A static interrupted voice of another Jenny came through the microphone. "Sunset will be any minute, if you don't hurry we won't find them. They have to be on one of the islands, we know that! Over!"  
  
Jenny nodded, and said into the radio, "But we've got officers on all of them, there is no trace. Over!"  
  
In a minute, a response came over the radio. "Are you sure you've checked all of them? Over!"  
  
"Affirmative. All of them in this chain. Over."  
  
"What about islands that are farther away? By this time they could have gotten to one! Over!"  
  
Jenny thought about that. "We passed a tiny uninhabited island earlier. It was too dangerous to search. Should we double check? Over."  
  
"Affirmative, double check that island. Over!"  
  
Jenny turned her speeder into a tight U-turn, heading towards the island she had just passed. It was a jungle island, and it was tiny. It would be very hard for two people to survive on it alone, especially if they had the girl that they had kidnapped with them. She doubted they were there. They weren't that stupid.   
  
In no time at all, she was back at the island. She circled around it until she saw a cove. She raised a hand to her lips, and gasped. A little far out to see was a green shirt floating in the sea, torn and tattered. She pulled in closer, and slowed down her speeder. Again she gasped. A piece of a hull was bobbing in the cove. She looked at it in astonishment. From the way it looked, they had crashed, and capsized. There was no way they could have survived. The sides of the islands were steep, and even if they survived the crash, they would have been sucked down with the boat when it sunk. She got on her radio.  
  
"This is Jenny 0027. I've found them. Deceased. Over."  
  
She put the radio down. "That poor little girl…" she said, wiping her eyes. "She didn't deserve to go down with the likes of them..."  



	7. So Close And Yet So Far

"The Greatest Trial"- by Chrisanthanum  
  
Part VII- "So Close, And Yet So Far"  
  
The news that the Jessie and James case had been closed, spread across the world like a wild flowers. Two teenage criminals murder a medical nurse, go on the run, kidnap another teenager, only to crash and die in some sort of whirlpool in a tiny deserted island. No one really cared about Jessie and James, except for a few of the people they were close friends with inside the team, but sympathy for the girl who had gone down with them was never ending. Her father, it was said, had locked himself into his home and didn't come out for anything. He didn't eat, and he didn't sleep. The girl had been his life. And now she was dead. The story was told in whispers between couples, and discussed in school by the students. The media had begged the police to send another squad out to try to figure out what actually happened that fatal day, but the police refused. There was no more evidence, and sending a whole team out would be hazardess to both the team, and the ecosystem of the island. All of the evidence had all long since sunk into the murky bottoms of the cove along side the owners of it. Except for the pictures that the officer had taken who had seen it, there wasn't any more evidence. But it was clear all three were dead. The pictures brought about some talk too. Some people claimed that in one of the pictures of what remained of the boat, if you looked at it from a certain angle you could see the pale face of a young woman, her green hair floating in the water, at the bottom of the cove.  
  
Of course this was just a coral formation. It was truly amazing how wrong the world was at that point.  
  
Jessie, James, and Zoe were alive and well. They had all gotten nice new tans, and a better body from working so hard on the island. James was getting the beginnings of a beard. Jessie teased him. With his new short hair, the beard, the muscular physical appearance, his own teammates would probably not recognize him at first glace. Zoe looked at him even more fondly than she had when she first met him. Jessie never gave up her suspicions of the girl, but as usual, James was clueless. Jessie continued to refer to Zoe as "girl" even though she was their same age. And Zoe could see it was pointless to argue.  
  
Today, they were all on their hands and knees, leaning in to her the radio, which was losing power fast.  
  
"Do to the bzzzzzzzt of the Jessbzzzzzzzzt as, local police forces have put bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt back into their normal schebztle. Funeral services for bzzzzzztee Rae…"  
"Bee Ray?" James repeated.  
  
"I think he said 'Zoe Rae'," Jessie said sternly.  
  
Zoe blinked. "But that's me!"  
  
James grinned. "I think they think you're dead!"  
  
Zoe blanched. "They do not think I'm dead!"  
  
"They're holding your funeral!" Jessie teased. "You are quite dead. I wonder what they think became of us?"  
  
James sat up all the way, sick of listening to the news of the closer of the case. The important thing was that it was closed. "The Boss never gave us any help on this one…"   
  
"James, you know he doesn't have any time for us with matters like this. But when we come back home, we'll be hailed like heroes at headquarters. We will be the first rockets to escape the police so easily. And the twerp… Hehehe… he won't have a clue! Just wait until we see him again, we'll get him, he won't ever expect us. We're dead, James! We're probably dead!"  
  
James looked at her. His eye twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything. Jessie was the only one optimistic about ever going home again. It was clear to James that they would probably never be back on the chase again.  
  
Zoe yawned, and also said nothing. She nibbled on a piece of fruit. "I remember the stories told about this island," she commented absentmindedly.  
  
This caught Jessie's attention. "What do you mean?"  
  
Zoe shrugged. "Legends, they were all just fish tales! None of them are true. Ghost stories. Ghost stories I would tell to entertain people who rented a room, sometimes."  
  
Jessie grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little more forcefully than intended. "Tell me exactly what stories now!"  
  
James sat up a bit and looked at them, and blinked. Deciding this was more interesting than anything they said on the radio, he leaned in a little to listen.  
  
Zoe laughed nervously, and backed up against a tree from Jessie. "Okay, okay, I take it you two are in need of a story!"  
  
James, feeling that he was being included when he wasn't meaning to be, blinked.  
  
In the time being, Jessie let Zoe go. "Talk."  
  
"Well um… I guess almost 20 years ago, there was a group of musicians who would come to this island to get inspired or something. But they would never play any of their music to the public because they didn't want anything to leak out before they made a debut. A lead band member let some news out that they were almost ready to release an inspirational song they had came up with. They were going to spend their whole time here. And the story said that they built a house here, but I think that's just a legend… the scary part is, the day before their first actual performance, every member was missing. Days later, their bodies were found floating in the ocean. Their song was lost forever with their lives. But I promise you, that's only a story teenagers would tell around camp fires to scare their friends. I've done it many times myself. Everyone knows they aren't true, but it is kind of eerie.. to think about."  
  
James looked at her, and nodded thoughtfully, thinking that kind of thing was probably pretty likely. But Jessie showed rapt attention to this story. "I've heard their song!" Jessie exclaimed.  
  
Zoe looked at her, and shook her head. "No, no one has heard their song. There was no song, you misunder-"  
  
"I have!" Jessie interrupted stubbornly. "And don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, we shouldn't have even been messing with that radio!"  
  
James put a hand over his mouth, and made kind of a sniggering sound.  
  
Jessie looked from face to face and then, turning a bright shade of red stomped away in a different direction.  
  
James got up to follow her, but she lifted a hand, and put it in his face. "No James, leave me alone. Spend some time with Zoe, you've become fond of her! you'll see me later tonight!"  
  
James looked at her, and blinked, and then took a step backwards. He had learned from being her friend for so long that when Jessie wanted her space, she really wanted her space. There would be no going near her for the rest of the day.  
  
He was silent, as Jessie stomped off into the jungle, smacking at vines, and kicking leaves out of the way, until she was out of sight. He continued to watch in that general direction, until Zoe's voice interrupted is thoughts.  
  
"Something about that caught her wrong."  
  
James nodded. "You're telling me…"  
  
Coolly, Zoe made her way closer to James, and sat next to him. "Well… at least we're together now…"  
  
James, to say the least, was still not used to Zoe's advances, pretty as she was. "I guess so," he said dumbly.   
  
He got up, and walked away after Jessie, leaving Zoe alone.  
  
~*~  
  
Tears rolled down Jessie's face as she walked alone through the jungle. She didn't know where she was going, or even how to get back to their camp. All she knew was that something was wrong. Something was very wrong. The whole dream thing had her so confused. What was it trying to tell her? And if no one had ever heard the song this island was all about, why could she hear it almost every day? And what did this group of musicians have to do with her? It didn't make any sense at all.  
  
She kept her eyes to the ground. The mud was getting softer. Looking up, she saw she had discovered another lake. She picked up a stone, and threw it in, listening to it plop in the water. This lake was different from the one they had set up camp in. While their lake was clear and full of birds and fish, connected to a stream that turned into a river, which led out to the sea; this one was just a muddy lake. It was like a giant puddle. It was full of life, but of a totally different kind. Bugs, and frogs, and other slimy things Jessie didn't want to mess with. She sighed, and crouched down, and looked at her reflection in the muddy water.  
  
She missed her Pokémon. Especially Meowth. She thought about how unfair it was for him to be taken away. He was as human as anyone else. He could talk, and walk, and he could think. A lot better than James could. Or even, okay, he was smarter than her. It was all the more reason to let him go on trial with James and her.   
  
She gazed down at her reflection again. But it was broken by a tear from Jessie's eye. The picture shattered, and rippled into a million pieces. "What is going on here?" she asked to no one in particular. "Why is this happening to us?"  
  
"Jessie?"  
  
She turned at the sound of the soft voice, looking into the green eyes of her partner. "I told you to leave me alone."  
  
"Jessie, I'm really worried about you!"  
  
Jessie ignored him, and turned away, looking again in the muddy water. "I told you to spend time with Zoe. You seem to like her."  
  
James looked at his feet, and said, "I don't. She... she kind of annoys me."  
  
Jessie looked up at him, tears still shimmering in her blue eyes.  
  
"She is useful though," James said. "Without her we couldn't have found this island."  
  
"When we get out of her," Jessie said, still clinging on to the hope of escaping. "We'll dump her. Or return her to her father."  
  
"Yeah," James whispered. He seemed to be getting closer to her.   
  
Jessie could do nothing but stare into those beautiful eyes. They had been alone for so many days, she had become even closer to him. And then that girl, that Zoe... she had just got in the way. But what was she doing, flirting with James like there was no tomorrow? Had she no shame? Jessie's lip twitched. What was she doing? Was she actually jealous of this girl? Why would she be jealous? James was her partner, and her bestfriend, and nothing more. And yet he was always there for her. She thought back to all the times on this journy when he had comforted her. He had been concerned from the start about that dream. Some of her other friends would have just told her to shut up. He really did care about her. He was the only person in the whole world that she believed really cared about her. She had never known her father, and her mother, also a Team Rocket member, had always been away, and then died in search for the legendary Mew. As a child, hearing the news of her mother's demise she had never even shed a tear.  
  
Suddenly, their lips were together. His arms were around her, and he ran his fingers through her red hair. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation pulling him closer to her. She opened her mouth slightly, allowing his tongue to explore the inside of her mouth.  
  
Her eyes suddenly shot open. She stopped, and pushed him away. "If you EVER kiss me again, you son-of-a..."  
  
"Don't worry," James interrupted, wiping Jessie's lipstick off of his own lips, "I won't tell anyone."  
  
~*~  
  
Meanwhile, back on the mainland, the case that was closed two weeks ago was once again beginning to unravel. A plane that had been passing over the very island where Jessie, James, and their captive had apparently been taken by the sea, and had picked up an unusual signal coming from down below. But this was impossible. Such a signal only came from the radio in boats. But there weren't any boats coming up on the radar. When the pilot had reported this to authorities, they brought it to the police.  
  
Of course, the unavoidable conclusion was made. Jessie and James were still alive and well, and hopefully, so was their youthful capture. And this time police new exactly where to look.  
The commissioner was mad, to say they least. How could they slip out of their fingers like this? Well, almost slip out of their fingers. They had them now. Oh yes, they were theirs. By this time tomorrow, Team Rocket would be captured, and brought to justice.  
Nurse Joy held a pen in her mouth, and a clipboard in her hand. Officer Jenny paced in front of her, and in front of them were all of those in the force who would be working on this case. A good three fourths of them were Jennys.  
  
"Ladies, and gentlemen…" Officer Jenny said. "I am here to present to you the basis of our arrest of Team Rocket members Jessie and James. They have murdered, they have kidnapped, and they have resisted arrest. That's enough to get them death after all of the other crimes they have committed in the past. Their descriptions are as follows: James is roughly five feet, ten inches. He is seventeen or eighteen years old. He has green eyes, and blue hair that comes down to about his chin. However, when described by the owner of the motel where they kidnapped Zoe Rae, it was said that he had cut a good lot of his hair off, possibly for throwing a couple of people off. He is in good shape, and shouldn't be too hard to pick out of a crowd. But he is a master of disguise. Like her counterpart, Jessie is also a master of disguise. She is about five feet, six or seven inches. Bright red hair that is very long, blue eyes. Also like her partner, we believe she may have cut off a good length off her hair as well. The girl who we are going to be trying to rescue is about five feet three inches, has green hair, and the last we knew, it was braided. Large blue eyes, shouldn't be too hard to tell who she is. You are the best of the force in the entire nation, all called together for this case. You are all in wonderful physical condition. You will need it. You will be running through dangerous jungle after two young teens that are both more than good enough to win a marathon. And who knows how much better they are now that they've been on the run? You're the brightest. You'll need it. These two may not show it, but they are very clever for their age. As a matter of fact, making us think they aren't that bright may be just part of their plan. But most of all, you are the most aggressive! You'll need that as well, once you have them, they won't be able to keep a hold of! Most importantly, get the girl before you get them. If they have her, they can use her as a human shield, or worse. I repeat; if you have to choose between them and the girl, get Rae first! They're on an island, they have nowhere to run. This is going to be like a sport, my friends. Use of weapons in this case has been approved. Good luck."  
  
Nurse Joy stood up, and put the pen behind her ear. "I have here the check in list. Everyone here must sign it. If you don't sign it, your paycheck is being held. We're just making sure all 150 of you are going. Now, if you'll follow me, and Officer Jenny, we will lead you to your choppers…"  
  
  
~*~  
It was as decorated as a parade when the 75 choppers took off from the shore over the sea. It couldn't be denied that it was a beautiful sight. There was a group in front, and two groups behind. Three 'V's of choppers taking off into the bright sun, with bright reflections shining down off the silver bodies of the flying machines was a something enough to draw crowds from all over the city, and further.  
  
The crowd was enthusiastic. The theme was not so much about getting the bad guys, but more about the rescue of a teenage girl. The gathering of all the people sprouted many Pokémon battles among trainers, of course, as it could be expected.  
  
Those people who weren't there were home watching. The whole thing was being covered on television.  
  
To say the least, they were ready to rumble.   
  
  



	8. Just Like a Game

"The Greatest Trial" by Chrisanthanum  
  
Part VIII- "Just Like A Game"  
  
The sound of the choppers was piercing. So piercing, it was enough to make Jessie forget the roller coaster of emotions she had just experienced. Her jaw dropped, and she stood tall starring up into the sky. It was an amazing site. Three V-formations of choppers wasn't something you see everyday. But as soon as it sunk in exactly what this meant, she wouldn't let pretty sites get the best of her. "JAMES!" she shrieked.  
  
She broke off to a run, still screaming her partner's name as tears ran down her face.   
  
James followed her, running by her side. "Jessie, don't worry, they'll never catch us! They may get the girl, but you and I are unstoppable!"  
  
~*~  
  
Zoe was still alone. She had found a tree that she was able to climb easily. Her reaction was similiar to Jessie and James's. "What's that?"  
  
The choppers came more clearly into view, and she could see the police logo on the side of the leader. "That is the sound of death for Jessie and James," she said grimmly, answering her own question.  
  
"ZOE!"  
  
She looked up, and saw Jessie and James running towards her.  
  
"James! Jessie!" she called back, waving her arms.  
  
"Zoe! Get down from that tree!" James barked. "We've got to get out of here!"  
  
She could see them now now. Jessie had a look of fear plastered on her face like no one could ever forget. It was the look of terror in its most pure form. "RUN!" she called out again. But her cries could hardly be heard over the roar of the choppers above. She ran closer, and Zoe climbed down. She ran to James, and jumped into his arms, giving him a long hug. "James, I don't think we're going to get through this!"  
  
James wasn't set on dying yet. He pushed Zoe off of him. "We have to! We've gone this far!"  
  
The roar was painful.  
  
"We just have to run!"  
  
Zoe looked at both of them. "But…"  
  
They looked down at her. Jessie gave James an unsure look.  
  
James leaned down a little a put his hand on her shoulder. He looked into her eyes. "Zoe, you stay here. They're looking for you, they'll take you home away from this island, they'll save you! You can have real food, and a loving family, and never have to stop and worry where your life is going, because it won't be a matter of life and death like it is… like it is with me."  
  
"Never!" Zoe shouted. "Don't talk to me like that, I know what's going on! I'm not a child that I'm made out to be, I'm just as old as you too! And if they catch me there will be no way to prove you're innocent!"  
  
"Listen to him!" Jessie snapped. "Maybe you could TELL them!"  
  
"Darn it, Zoe, don't be so stubborn!" James said. "I know what's best for you!"  
  
She glared back into his eyes. "James, I'm not leaving you or Jessie! No way, no how! You're the best thing that's ever happened to me!"  
  
"We're the worst thing that's ever happened to you!" Jessie and James yelled.   
  
Jessie was getting impatient. "STAY HERE. We have to run! Or they'll get us, and kill us!"  
  
"I'm not leaving you," Zoe said. "I'll do whatever it takes! As soon as this is right again, I'll join Team Rocket!"  
  
James sighed. "You can't join Team Rocket! You have a wonderful life, don't throw it away! Joining is like… selling your life away for something like this, everyday! And you're trapped! Once you're in, there's no going out until you're shot or arrested! Or until you die of drug overdose or an STD! This is no life for you!"  
  
"I am not leaving you!" Julia cried.  
  
"They're landing!" Jessie screamed. She grabbed Zoe by the shoulder. "Run ahead! Follow that river!" she said pointing.  
  
Too shaken up to argue, Zoe did as she was told.  
  
James looked at his partner. "You're smarter than you look."   
  
Jessie gave him a small smile, not bothering to hurt him for his comment.  
  
James looked off as she ran a head. "They'll find her. That's what they want… I will miss her though."  
  
There was a silence. James lifted his head to the sound of the choppers still coming, still circling over head, still landing in the bay. "We're trapped like rats, Jessie. How did they find us?"  
  
Jessie shook her head. "No time to think about that! We have to run! Now!"  
  
There was a crack of thunder. A storm had come up, quick enough so Jessie and James didn't notice. They both turned their heads in that direction just in time to see a menacing bolt of bright lightning strike on the south side of the island. There faces were bathed in bright yellow light for a split second.  
  
A message that seemed to be beamed to them through that lightening rippled through their bodies. Without having to speak, they knew what they had to do. The rain started to pour down. They ran into the jungle, in the direction that the lightening had struck, hand in hand. Mud splashed with every step they took. Jessie's hair waved wildly behind her, and like so many snakes ready to strike whipped against her back whenever she turned her head.  
  
They jumped over a fallen tree branch. James landed wrong on his ankle, and gave a yelp of pain. He fell to the ground, clutching his right ankle. In another flash of lightning, when his face was vividly visible for a split second, Jessie couldn't tell if his face was moist from the rain, or from his own tears. She put down her hand, and he grabbed it, pulling himself up. He stumbled, but regained his balance.  
  
Jessie didn't have to say a word to express her mind's thought.  
  
"I'm fine," James said in his usual stubborn manor. "I'm fine, now let's go! They're going to catch us! Run!"  
  
Jessie hesitated. "Are you…?"  
  
"I'm fine, I'm sure, let's go!" James said, giving her a little shove.  
  
She ran, and James followed just like before.   
  
There was a bolt of lightning. Jessie could see him wince, every time that foot went down, but he was determined to keep going. She decided not to mess with it. Not until they were out of this one, that is.  
  
There was a crack that seemed to come from behind her. "James…?"  
  
Silence.  
  
She turned around quickly, and screamed as a lightning crack reflected the site before her. Two cops were darting around in the trees. Her heart pounded. "JAMES!" she shouted.  
  
Someone grabbed her wrist. She screamed. A gloved hand muffled the sound and turned her to face who-ever-it-was.  
  
It was James.  
  
He let her go, and gave her kind of an uneasy look. "Where did you go?" Jessie said in a little above a whisper. She was crying now, but she wouldn't allow that to be shown. "Did you see anything of what I just saw?"  
  
James gave the smallest nod, and motioned for her to be quiet. "We're surrounded…"  
  
He was right. They could hear footsteps coming from every direction towards them. The sound of the feet sent shivers down their spines. They would surely be dead tonight.  
  
Jessie shivered, and clung onto James' arm. She wiped the tears off her face onto his sleeve. They were going to die here.   
  
A twig snapped. They both jumped, and turned in that direction. But when lightening flashed again, they saw only an open clearing before them. But then there was a snap in another direction. It seemed to be all around them. A rustle in the trees seemed to give away another position, but then it was gone. There was an eerie silence, and a hush fell over them both. They were alone again. They didn't know how it happened, but they were.   
  
James gave a sigh of relief. He made a move to continue going forward, but then realized he didn't know where forward was. The whole event had turned them totally around. They could no longer follow the lightning, because the lightning was all around them.   
"Jessie?"  
  
Jessie peered at the world through squinted eyes. She looked to the left, and then to the right, and stepped in the direction that was in front of her. After a pause, she turned in another direction, and pointed. "This is the way."  
  
James looked at her oddly. "How do you know? We can't afford guesses right now!"  
  
Jessie scowled. "This isn't a guess!"  
  
She took another step in that direction. "I'm telling you, we need to go this way!"  
  
James was getting impatient. "Why that way?"  
  
"Because that is where I can hear The Song the clearest. Someone is guiding me."  
  
James was ready to dismiss it all as nonsense, but when he opened his mouth, something seemed to tell him he was wrong. Something was telling him to listen to Jessie. Was this what a conscience was? He didn't think so. His conscience was the ignored voice that told him that he should have never left his parents. The nagging, frustrating, annoying little voice that followed him after every move he made. And this was not that voice. This was something else entirely. But he was willing to trust it.  
  
Without having to say another word, they both crept off in that direction, moving branches out of their way as they walked, silently and carefully.  
  
"This is it, this is it!" Jessie cried. "It's getting stronger, there is a safe place somewhere in this direction!"  
  
James looked at the ground, and then at her again. He refused to say anything, fearing that he might squash her lead. On one hand, he would be glad to be rid of it. On the other other hand, something was telling him that maybe, just maybe, she was right.  
  
"No!" James suddenly yelled. "Not this way! Look!" He pointed a head. Near was the bay where the choppers were actually landing. "Let's go this way!"  
  
"No, James!"  
  
"Yes, Jessie!" he grabbed her arm, and took her in that direction.  
  
"No, you're going to be sorry! Let me go, James! James!" Jessie screeched.  
  
"You're going to get us caught!" James said stubbornly.  
  
"I'm not. James! Watch where you're walking!"  
  
James grunted, and said nothing to her. He simply dragged her along, absorbed in the fact that he was certain that he was right, and that this song that Jessie kept talking about was just a stupid irony.  
  
Or maybe it wasn't so stupid after all. As soon as he opened his eyes again to the real world, he was starring right into the face of Officer Jenny. Actually, there were ten of them.  
  
James yelped, and tried to turn in another direction, but there were more, and they were closing in.  
  
"Oh you stupid stubborn man! I told you!" Jessie snapped. She tried to remain calm.  
  
"Ready to turn yourselves in?" one of the Jennies said.  
  
"Never!" James shouted.  
  
Jessie's eyes darted in the direction they were going previously. Her grip tightened around James's arm. He gave him a squeeze, as if signaling him. "One…" she said softly under her breath.  
  
"You're under arrest for first degree murder, kidnapping, and resisting arrest!"  
  
She squeezed his arm again. "Two…"  
  
"You have the right to remain silent. You have a right to an attorny. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. You have a right…"  
  
She squeezed on last time, hard and firm. "Three!" she said the tiniest bit louder.  
  
They both broke off into a run into the direction that Jessie had planned earlier. They broke the blockade of a few Jennies, which caught them by surprise. They ran, faster than they had ever run before.  
  
The Jennies jumped, and scanned the area. It was as if they had just vanished under their noses. There was another flash of lightning.  
  
One of the Jennies' sharp eyes caught a footprint quickly filling in again in the mud. "This way!" she said, and they all began to follow.  
  
Jessie and James had the head start they needed though. Their hearts pounded, and they were hardly able to keep hold of their breath. They continued to run, no longer afraid of making a sound because they had all ready been discovered. Now all that was important was speed, and brainpower. The important thing was they never caught them.  
  
They ran until they reached the shore of the now thrashing and dangerous looking beach. Jessie looked out into the sea, and then at her partner. They followed the sea border until the beach was no more. A rock formation blocked the path. The only way through would be to swim through the ocean. On normal days this would have been no problem. But today, it was different. The sea was so angry and fierce that trying to swim would leave them smashed into a cliff, lead to certain doom.  
  
Or that is how it seemed.  
  
Something was telling Jessie other wise. She walked up to the tall rock formation. It was too steep to climb up. But there seemed to be someone telling her, "Look at the wall, Jessie. You will find what you are seeking there."  
  
She was silent, and ran her fingers over the smooth surface, feeling nothing. And then, as if by magic, she did feel something, exactly when she was about to announce that they were doomed. There was a break in the rock. She wrapped her fingers around this break, and discovered that it was big enough for a person who was small enough and strong enough to fit through. She gave the smallest smile. She pulled herself into this break. She seemed to be going up, and then right out to the side. She pressed her body against the rock of the cave, inching ahead, with her fingers guiding her along the way. She saw light at the other end.  
  
She turned and went back. She reached her hand out of the cave. "Come on, James!" she said.  
  
James blinked. It was as if Jessie had just walked through an unbreakable stone wall. The break in the wall was nearly invisible. But he walked to her hand, and took a hold of it, for the second time that night. He was pulled in with her.  
  
They both squeezed themselves through the crack in the wall. They could hear the mad sea outside there little stone house throwing itself up against the rock. But the rock was strong, and no matter how much it tried, the sea would not break through.  
  
"You were right Jessie. We'll be safe here for sure!" James said in almost a happy tone.  
  
Jessie looked at him and glared. But it wouldn't matter, because the darkness of the cave they were in hid any glare. "This isn't the place," she snapped. "This is just the way through."  
  
"But… this is perfect!"  
  
"This is not the place they want me to go!" Jessie shouted.  
  
James stared at her long and hard.  
  
Realizing was she had revealed, Jessie looked away, and down in pity of herself.  
  
"Who… are they?" James asked calmly.  
  
Jessie buried her head in her hand, and stopped inching forward. "I don't know, James! Okay? I have no idea. I used to think they were me… or relatives of me… relations maybe? But now I'm not so sure. Whoever they are, they're the ones sending me the song, and they want me to go this way!"  
  
James looked more confused. "Song? What song?"  
  
"The song from the dream!" Jessie said, and then vowed not to say another word. But her vow would do no good, because James had just vowed never to ask about that again.  
  
They began moving again. James wondered about Zoe, as the sliver of light at the end grew brighter and broader. Had they found her yet? He closed his eyes, and could almost hear her voice that had been so striking the first time he met her. He felt a rush of cockiness over come him. Silly little girl, thinking she could have him. She was stupid for suggesting she joined Team Rocket, too.  
  
"Here we are…" Jessie said softly, and edged to the ledge of the cave. She looked down. She gulped. And then she jumped. Like a graceful flower she fell to the beach below, down, down, down, and landed on her feet like a cat.  
  
James peered over the edge, and could tell why Jessie had hesitated. It was a rather long drop. And then he had to think of his ankle. Any other day, he wouldn't have been afraid of something like this. But it was now or never, and he had no time to think about it. He jumped, and fell to the sand as well, landing softly. His ankle suffered little damage, because the sand was wet and soft. He looked to his partner, who was starring skywards.  
  
He looked up as well. He saw a tremendous wall of rock that rose up and up and up like some giant title wave frozen in time. Never in a million years could someone survive trying to scale it, and never in a million years could someone survive falling from it. Looking where he was, he could see that no one ever had. That cave, only available to them when the tide was high, was the only way to get to where they were. But was this the place Jessie's people spoke up? Surely not. Eventually, the cops would find that hole too. And if the tide kept rising, they would drown in the waves that curled at their feet.   
  
"We'll never make it alive," James moaned.  
  
"Oh no…" Jessie said. "We all ready have James," she laughed ever so slightly. "We all ready have, my dear partner…"  



	9. It Would Take a Miracle

"The Greatest Trial" by Chrisanthanum  
  
Part IX- "It Would Take A Miracle"  
  
James glanced at his partner in that kind of way that said, "are you going mad, or are you seriously thinking there's a way out of this?" His fears were confirmed when Jessie started laughing.  
  
He took a deep breath. "Jessica."  
  
Jessie glared at him. "What?"  
  
"You have lost your mind."  
  
Jessie gave him a nice whack to the head. "Don't you get it, James? Don't you get it at all?"  
  
  
James looked at her for a moment, blinked, and finally shook his head.  
  
"How typical."  
  
James nodded. He had no reason to argue.  
  
"Let me explain it. While we are here, no one can get us from jumping from the top of that cliff, or from swimming in that ocean. We are safe!"  
  
James sighed. "Jess… they just have to come the same way we did! And before long, we'll be trapped here when the sea gets to high!"  
  
Jessie bopped his shoulder. "Idiot! They can't come our way, because the tide is too high to find that cut in the cliff!"  
  
James groaned. This meant certain doom.  
  
Jessie lost her playful nature. Her face darkened. "We will not die tonight."  
  
She sighed, and looked up the giant face of the cliff, and the endless stormy sky even above that. "We will not die tonight," she repeated. "There is someone watching over me. They will not let me die before my time. And because you are my best friend, and loyal partner. I guess that means they owe you their protection too. Plus, they know if you die, I die."  
  
James looked at her oddly. She leaned against the side of the cliff, and took a moment to catch her breath. She continued. "I don't understand why they want to keep a wench like me alive. A common criminal. I'm not smart, and I'm not too talented. I guess I do have my beauty going for me."  
  
She smirked.  
  
"For whatever reason, they want me here, alive, on this earth, or at least until I can help them do… whatever they want me to do. I don't understand it James, no more than you do, but somehow I know that… that's the way it is. I've figured it out. And as soon as we get home, we will, mind you, I will do whatever it takes. And for this reason I beg you for your trust. Listen to me."  
  
James nodded, and didn't say a word. Common sense told him his partner had blown her mind finally, but something for whatever reason kept him from thinking that. Something wanted to believe her.  
  
"Because I have faith that they won't let me die, I'm going to take your hand, and we're going to close our eyes. We'll feel the sea slam past us into this wall, and we'll feel like we would do anything to end that moment, but we will not open our eyes. We'll feel everything go black, like life is over, but we will realize that we are breathing. When we open our eyes, we will be safe at the top of that cliff, together. You and me. Partners forever. But you cannot open your eyes, you can't, because if you do, it won't work. Whoever is working on our side won't be able to work their magic."  
  
James nodded, fully believing her, no matter how outrageous it sounded. "I won't open my eyes."  
  
Looking at each other's eyes, both realized something now that had escaped them so many times before. They loved each other. Not like lovers. Not like brother and sister. But in a different way. They shared a unique bond of friendship that tied them together, and made them so one was never found without the other. Despite how they argued, they always found their differences and went on with life. It was kind of like romantic love, and it was kind of like kinship, except not either. They weren't Jessie and James the couple. They weren't Jessie and James, soul siblings. They were just Jessie and James. And forever they would be. And if Jessie's bizarre idea didn't work, death could not break this bond. They would still be together, even if they weren't on this earth. They would go on.  
  
James hand found Jessie's, and he gave it a squeeze.  
  
"Are you ready?" Jessie asked softly.  
  
James nodded. They both backed up against the rock. They glanced at each other, and then looked straight at the waves in front of them, pounding closer and closer. And then they closed their eyes, and there was only blackness.  
  
The first wave struck them. As soon as it went down, they both gasped for air, but did not up their eyes. They heard another wave coming. They took another huge gulp of air. This wave crashed into the cliff, ramming them even more firmly into the rock wall. The rock stabbed into their backs, and they felt a new kind of pain then they had ever experienced. The water went well above their heads, by at least six or seven feet. The water came down again, just to Jessie's chin. This was the last chance they were going to get to breathe. This was it. They once again took a huge gulp of air, and prepared themselves for what could either be the end or the beginning.  
  
The water slammed them again. They felt their bodies being ripped into by the sharp and unforgiving stone. They felt their hearts pounding, and their minds telling them to run, and get away from there. But there was no way out of this one. The water did not come down again. Their chests began to ache. What Jessie wouldn't give for one more chance to breathe air? James wanted to cry out, but of course, he couldn't do that underwater. The water itself was painful. It tasted awful when they got it in their mouths, and it stung the fresh wounds from the rocks like nothing they had ever felt.  
  
Their backs hurt. Their skin hurt. But most of all, their lungs hurt from going so long without fresh air. If it was possible, the blackness that they got when they closed their eyes was blackened further as they lost the energy to stay conscious. The sound of the water against the rock got softer and softer until there was nothing.  
  
And it remained to be nothing. No more sight, no more sound, and their bodies were numb.   
  
There was nothing. There was nothing for a long time. And then, miraculously, there was something.  
  
Jessie twitched, feeling a cold wind touch her. Without opening her eyes, she said softly, "Kojiro?"  
  
"Musashi?"  
  
She opened one eye slowly. She was starring up into the stormy sky again. A small smile traced her lips. "You can open your eyes!"  
  
They both looked up.  
  
James looked at his partner. "You were right."  
  
"Of course I was right!"  
  
"But I don't understand…"  
  
"I don't either. But we're alive. And we have to keep it that way. Where's the kid?"  
  
James looked at her blankly. "I suppose the police have found her by now…?"  
  
"Hmm…"  
  
Jessie stumbled to her feet. "This salt water is killer on my hair…"  
  
James starred at her, dumbfounded that her hair was what she thought about after something like that. Only Jessie would put her hair over a near-death experience. He examined her. Her uniform was torn, and her exposed skin was cut and bleeding.  
  
"Jessie, let's get out of here."  
  
Together they ran away from the cliff, and peered over a hill.  
  
There was a girl. And there were four or five S.W.A.T team members stalking in her general direction.  
  
James made a move to go down and helped her, but Jessie stopped him with a menacing glare.  
  
Suddenly, there was another scream when the girl saw the men coming towards her. She started running away from them.  
  
"I have to go down there."  
  
Jessie scowled. "Don't be ignorant, James!"  
  
"Can't you see that that's Zoe?"  
  
"I'm very aware of who it is, but getting caught isn't worth that little girl. They'll take her to a better place anyway, and you know it! They're trying to save the girl, and kill us. Remember? Idiot."  
  
James groaned. He watched her run away from these men. That's exactly what they had planned right? But what an awkward position it was to watch someone who had turned out to be a dear friend get taken away right before his eyes. Especially when he could be doing something to save her. He could save her. Or at least he could say goodbye. Because if they were caught, he realized, or if they weren't, he would never see her again.  
  
His sharp eyes darted to the other side of the river. It was concealed behind trees and vines. If he were careful, no one would see him.  
  
Without looking to Jessie for her approval, he took off at a run down the hill to the other side of the river.  
  
"JAMES!" Jessie shouted. James looked over his shoulder at her, and glared. Jessie bit her lip, and chased after him. The men had looked up, but up on the hill there wasn't a soul. They had all ready disappeared into the jungle.  
  
"James, what are you doing?!" Jessie whispered to the teen that ran in front of her.  
"I've got to say goodbye, Jessie!"  
  
He had caught up to Zoe before long, and ran across from her, even though she couldn't see him. But he could see her. Every panic stricken muscle in her face was visible to James.   
  
The men had her surrounded.  
  
James stopped running and watched between two trees.  
  
"You don't understand!" Zoe was saying as she was backing up. "They didn't kidnap me! You have to leave this place! You won't find them!"  
  
James watched in horror as she lost her footing. She stumbled backwards, and fell into the river. She screamed as the river swept her away. She went under.  
  
"ZOE!" James yelled, and ran out of his hidden spot in the jungle. He dived in the river after her. Jessie gasped. But the uniformed men still did not see her. Their attention was absorbed into the boy who had just dived into the river. They started firing into the water after him as he swam after her.  
  
Before she knew what she was doing, Jessie ran out in the open and screamed at the top of her lungs. Immediately, the men turned to Jessie. Jessie glanced at James and the girl in the river being swept a way, hopeful that her interception had given them enough time to get away without being caught… hopefully.  
  
The men were now coming after her. That hadn't exactly been intended.  
  
She broke into a run back up the hill. The men followed her, firing their guns as she ran. Luckily, Jessie managed not to be shot by the bullets. But luck didn't stay with her. When she reached the land bridge, the uniformed men were able to cross the river. With the protection of the wild river no longer there, she yelped and changed directions. She ran back down the forested side of the river, with the men close behind her.   
  
There was a loud crash of thunder, as well as the thunder of the warning shots that were shot at her. She had to keep running, she couldn't stop. She had to catch up with James and Zoe!  
  
She darted into the woods. Her earlier exploring aided her into knowing where she was going. This was the same river that connected to her lake that they had first set camp on! Of course, further down, of course. Right on its way to the sea. The sea? She knew a wonderful short cut to get to that point from where she was, and if she ran like mad, she might beat James and Zoe to it!  
  
All she had to do was keep running in the jungle, and cause the men behind her to lose their place because of not being familiar with the territory. Then she could run east, and find that path near the waterfall that would take her right to the ocean, much faster than the winding river.  
  
The waterfall.  
  
A scream died in her throat. James and Zoe were in danger. They only had about ten minutes, in her prediction of time left before they reached that grand waterfall…  
  
~*~  
  
"James!" Zoe cried before she went under one more time. She flailed her arms, and kicked her feet trying to stay up. But the river was merciless.  
  
James didn't say a word, just kept swimming towards her. Finally, he caught up to her, and grabbed her hand. He yanked her back, and held her close and protectively. They both gasped for air, as the river rushed them forward fast and faster and faster.  
  
Where were they headed? It didn't need to be spoken to know that either had not the slightest idea.  
  
"Hand on tight!" were the only words of encouragement James could give. "And please don't worry."  
  
His ears picked up an interesting sound. It was the sound of falling water hitting rocks. He suddenly looked up, and let Zoe out of his protective embrace, but did not let go of her hand.  
  
"What's that?" Zoe asked softly.  
  
"I don't think we want to know."  
  
They were coming closer. And closer.  
  
"James, it's a waterfall!" Zoe shrieked. "What do we do? What do we do!"  
  
James looked franticly around. There were no vines hanging into the water. Nor was there was any way they could get out of the river.  
  
James gulped  
  
But suddenly, there came a high-pitched yell out of nowhere, and a splash.  
  
"What!" Zoe and James said in one voice and turned their heads in front of them from where the splash had come.  
  
Jessie came up, gasping for air. She clung onto a thick vine from a tree above. "Hang on!" she commanded.  
  
She reached her hand out, and James grabbed it. "You got a hold of Zoe?" she asked quickly.  
  
James and Zoe nodded. Jessie pulled at the vine, and groaned at the weight that she was doomed to carry with her. The currant pulling them away from the vine didn't help either. She hung on with all her might, and gave a furious kick to the side, which slammed the chain of three people into the bank.  
  
She grasped the vine tightly, keeping them stable. "Hurry!" she yelled. "I can't hang on much longer!"  
  
Zoe kicked and fought until she was able to reach the top of the bank. Her hand searched madly for something she could hang onto. She finally found a rock, and pulled herself up. She got out, and without a pause, she reached down and pulled James out of the river. James didn't hesitate, and hung belly side down over the bank, with Zoe holding onto his feet. He grabbed Jessie from under her arms, and with Zoe's help pulled them out.  
  
The trio emerged, gasping for air. They exchanged looks. Miraculously, the only injuries were a few deep scratches.  
  
"Are they behind… us?" James managed to say between gasps.  
  
"No… no, but they will be!" Jessie said, as she turned over on her belly, and faced the opposite direction. An entranced gasp escaped her lips.  
  
Zoe and James turned in that direction as well, and saw exactly what the reason for the gasp was.  
  
Before them was a house made out of wood, with a sturdy bamboo roof. It wasn't a beautiful thing to look at. But it was big. And it was sturdy.  
  
"This is that house," Jessie said quietly.  
  
James and Zoe exchanged glances, not sure whether to feel sorry for ever doubting Jessie's story, or to laugh at their good fortune.  
  
They all got up, and walked to the door. Jessie turned the knob. At first nothing happened, but after a minute of tugging, the door popped free, and they were able to enter.  
  
Zoe pulled a cord that turned on a light bulb above their heads. The light shined down on the room, revealing a single bed, and several chairs. There was a rug laid out on the floor, and a picture hanging on the wall: an autographed photo of Jimi Hendrix.   
  
James closed the door behind him, and sighed in relief of being out of the rain. He thought back to the events in the last forty-five minutes. It was unreal.  
  
The important thing was that all three of them were back together again. Zoe was showered with apologies about leaving her for the police to catch and take away like some mad dog. And in return, Jessie and James were showered with forgiveness, and 'thank-you's for saving her.  
  
Sadly, their reunion was interrupted almost before it began by the sound of someone trying to through the stubborn door. No, it wasn't just someone. It was several someones.  
  
Zoe grabbed Jessie, and shoved her behind the bed. Getting the picture, she darted under. She was followed by James, who brought a sheet after him, concealing them completely from view.  
  
Zoe sighed softly, and then shook the water out of her hair.  
  
There was another thunder crack, and the door finally gave way. It fell to the ground with a loud bang, and revealed many stern faces of Jennies and other officers.  
  
The lead Jenny ran to Zoe right away and grabbed her wrist. "You're here, now what happened to that boy who tried to kill you?"  
  
"Kill me?" Zoe repeated softly. "Um…" she figured she meant James. Did they mean that they thought he had jumped in after her to harm her? She had to run with it. "I don't know… I… escaped! And got out of the river using a vine that was hanging in… I think he went down the waterfall."  
  
Officer Jenny grunted. James had all ready been dead once that week. Could he really be dead again? This time she wasn't so confident in this report.  
  
"And the redhead?"  
  
"You didn't catch her?" Zoe almost shouted, acting like she was very frightened.  
  
"No, she eluded our men on foot," Jenny said coldly.  
  
Zoe began to back up, until she bumped into the bed. She gulped, and tucked a strand of loose green hair behind her ear.   
  
Officer Jenny looked around the house, and said coldly, "Search the place. Leave no spot on searched!"  
  
"No! Really I'm all alone, I came here because I knew it was safe!" cried Zoe.  
  
She was ignored. The officers began to probe every corner of the house. It wasn't five minutes when one of them pulled the sheet away from under the bed.  
  
Several of the larger men had to assist in pulling a kicking and fighting Jessie and James from under the bed. But before long, they were against the wall, with no chance of escape this time.  
  
"Put your hands up!" Jenny commanded.  
  
Zoe tried to get their attention. But she tried in vain. It was as if she had disappeared.  
  
"You have a right to remain silent!" Jenny barked. "You have a right to an attorny. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. You have a right…"  
  
The clicking of the large guns that were one by one rose to firing range.  
  
"STOP!" Zoe screamed. She jumped off the bed, and between the half a dozen dangerous looking characters and Jessie and James.  
  
"What are you doing!" Jenny exclaimed. "Get out of the way!"  
  
"NO!" Zoe shouted, more tears running down her face.  
  
"Don't you want to see these two behind bars? Where they belong?"  
  
"You don't understand, they didn't kidnap me! I followed them! And I don't think they killed that woman either!"  
  
Jenny scowled. "Of course they did!"  
  
"They didn't!" argued Zoe.  
  
"But what about him? He attacked you!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"There in the water! My men saw you!"  
  
"He wasn't attacking me, he saved my life! I would have gone off the waterfall if it wasn't for Jessie and James!"  
  
The gunmen lowered their arms, and looked at each other in confusion. Then they raised their eyes to Jenny. "Don't listen to her!" Jenny said in a cold voice.  
  
"No, do listen to me!" said Zoe. "They saved me, they saved me! Please don't take them off to jail, please! Please! I'll do anything! Don't take them away!"  
  
A kind of a stare-down took place between Jenny and the young girl. Finally, Jenny sighed. "At ease, boys."  



	10. The Second Trial

"The Greatest Trial" by Chrisanthanum  
  
Part X- "The Second Trial"  
  
The courtroom was packed yet again for the second trial of Jessie and James. But this time it was one-sided in the other direction. Instead of there being no possible way that they would get off the hook, there was hardly anyway they could lose. Not with the teenage girl who was innocent as a snowflake saying that she had followed them because she felt that there was something special about James. And they had found the ice cream guy who had sales records of them buying from him. They weren't anywhere near the scene of the crime anyway. Suspicions now ran towards Giovanni himself, angry over an affair, either business or personal. That would not only explain the elusiveness of the crime, but why Jessie and James weren't given back up from Team Rocket. It was actually likely that Giovanni had personally framed them, hoping to get rid of them. Instead of angry members of the town, it was filled with families just there to actually support the criminals.  
  
James gazed over this scene with a small smile on his face. He noticed some familiar faces on the crowd… could it be Team Twerp? What were they doing here? They were sitting with some witnesses. Witnesses? Were they testifying against them? Maybe he should have read the brief. But it was too late for that now. They were starting.  
  
Someone was speaking of what a delicate situation this was. How Jessie and James had broken the law by resisting arrest, but if they hadn't, they would now be dead for something new evidence says they didn't do it.  
  
Ah, so this meant that this wasn't even a case over if they did it or not! More over the little complications that they created when they had made a run for it. And of course, there was the girl following them. Some people were accusing them of wasting all the money the media had spent on the case. But this was hardly an issue; everyone had enjoyed the chase while it lasted.  
  
Some mediocre filmmakers were trying to buy the movie rights. Of course they wanted to change a few things, like make James a devilish playboy who was with Jessie as well as Zoe, or the waterfall 1,000 feet instead of 100, or one producer even wanted to make Officer Jenny a huge terminator like figure with a huge gun and a license to kill. They were tempted by the offers of course; they were told it would be the action/comedy/romance of the year. Jessie had blown the whole deal by getting a little greedy, and demanding too only accept offers from the big filmmakers such as Fox, Dreamworks, or Disney. She also demanded she would star in it. This was a little much.  
  
Jessie's mind wandered no less. She thought about how the lawyer was rather nice-looking, but how she could never go after him if he didn't stop talking. Drone, drone, drone, this trial was more boring than the first.  
  
The opening speeches were over. Now they were going through the witnesses.  
The only excitement came when Jessie and James were brought to the stand to testify. But that also wasn't as daring or really a matter of life and death any more. Or at least as much as it was before.  
  
In fact, it seemed that even the short time that the jury was debating, even then they weren't nervous, just bored.  
  
It was no surprise when the jury announced that Jessie and James were off the hook. Though the weight of it all being lifted off their shoulders did feel nice. What was surprising, was that not only were they not in trouble, they had gotten an apology from the city. Their lawyer pushed to sue Ash and Co, or at least his mom, for almost two years of mental and physical abuse.  
  
"Come on, guys… do you realize how much money you two could make?"  
  
Jessie and James looked at each other. "Money?"  
  
"Sure, all you have to do is show up tomorrow…"  
  
Jessie grinned, and made a promise that of course she and James would show up.  
  
~*~  
  
But morning came, and Jessie and James never showed up.   
  
After a while, their lawyer, being all alone in the courtroom, began to worry. A clerk passed by, and he stopped him with a cuffed hand.  
  
"Lad, find out what became of Jessica and James. If they aren't somewhere in this building, search their homes."  
  
The Clerk nodded, and scurried away silently.  
  
The Lawyer rocked on his toes. Where could they be? He knew they were just teenagers, and criminal teens at that. But they had promised them! And offered them lots of money, how could they refuse?  
  
The Judge looked at him, and said softly, "Well, what became of your clients?"  
  
The Lawyer looked at The Judge with a wry look on his face. "I'm not sure, Your Honor. They gave me their word they would be here, I can't imagine what in the world could have happened to them…"  
  
The Judge gave him a soft smile. "You know, the word of two members of Team Rocket who just got off the hook of a life time may not be something that is of much value."  
  
The Lawyer paused, and nodded. "If you're right, and you always are, Your Honor, than I still would like to know what became of them."  
  
Just then, the clerk returned to the room, holding a piece of paper. "Sir, this was found in their room along with a rose. The Lawyer took it, and frowned. "You were right Your Honor."  
  
  
  
Mr. Martinez…  
You've been a good lawyer for us. We have you to thank for our freedom. But you see, that's just what we want. The whole experience has done us well, as it should. We're smarter, stronger, and better looking (Ha! And that takes a lot!). However, the whole thing didn't change our spirits. We don't want to sue Ash and his companions, we don't really want anything to do with the law. No offense. We're still going to be the same two people no matter what happens in between. After we get Meowth, and the rest of our Pokémon, we're going back to enjoy our freedom as if nothing has happened. Don't try to find us. If we ever need a good lawyer, we'll know where to look. But more likely you'll never hear from us again. We will disappear… just like old news.  
  
Jessie and James  
  
~*~  
  
Jessie and James lived on, just as they would have without this whole mess. They figured that this was the best way. The only things that needed to be tied up was whatever became of Zoe and what happened with that song Jessie kept hearing in her head?  
  
Jessie situation was a bit more complicated. Someone had sent her a piano. Finding a place to put the piano was hard enough. James had complained loudly that what was the point of owning a piano if he was the only one who actually could play it, and had no intention of even thinking of it, because he wanted nothing to remind him of Jessebelle. But Jessie was stubborn, and they finally were able to put it in their temporary lodge in the middle of nowhere. Jessie had never read music before. She didn't no any scales, or any easy songs. After Zoe, who also knew how to play, showed her a few of these things, that was all she needed. She sat down, and closed her eyes. It was as if someone had guided her fingers on the keys. And she played and recorded the song with a cheap walkman that had been stored in only her mind for so long. And in the end, she had whispered, "thank you… whoever you are." But as soon as she opened her eyes, the song was gone. Bewildered, and confused, Jessie had tried again. But she couldn't even remember what it sounded like. When James turned on the tape player, and she heard what she had just played, it sounded as foreign as the Turkish national anthem. It was as if she had never heard it before. But now that the song was on tape, she was no longer plagued by the horrible dream.  
  
Zoe was allowed to stay with them for only a week, and then she was going back to her father. But she reminded them of her promise. Before long, Zoe had escaped from her island once again, and arrived in Safron city to request a membership from Giovanni.  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
"Well, congratulations, Ash!" Misty shouted a couple of weeks later. "You've gotten us lost again! How hard can it be to find this stupid cave? And who says there's really a Moltres in there anyway? I personally would prefer an Articuno!"  
  
Ash rolled his eyes.  
  
"Look, guys, will you please stop fighting?" Brock asked patiently. "Look, for as long as I've known you both, you're still never going to change, are you?"  
  
"Me? Change?" laughed Ash. "Why would I change? I'm almost a Pokémon master! But… I need a Moltres. And if what this guy said was true then…"  
  
"Then Prepare for trouble!"  
  
"Oh no…" groaned Misty. "I thought we had finally gotten rid of them…"  
  
"Make… it… double!"  
  
Jessie and James jumped down from the tree tops where they had heard the whole conversation.  
  
"To protect the world from devastation!" Jessie said, winking at Brock.  
  
"To unite all peoples within our nation!" said James, twirling his rose.  
  
"To denounce the EVILS of truth and love!" Jessie cried, a light now shining on her.  
  
"To extend our reach to the stars above!" James shouted, the same effect of the light shining on him.  
  
"Jessie." Jessie said seriously, looking at the ground.  
  
"James." James said equally as seriously, pointing his rose to Ash and Co.  
  
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" Jessie said, leaning against James.  
  
James grinned. "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"  
  
Meowth jumped from the trees, and landed one foot on each of their shoulders. "Meowth, dats right!"  
  
"Ugh! Won't you guys EVER change?" Ash yelled.  
  
James chuckled. "Oh no… Team Rocket will never change."  
  
Jessie smiled innocently. "We've been asking OURSELVES that… but we figure, eh, who would we be if we weren't... well... us?"  
  
  
~Finite~  
  
Disclamer: Yes, you guessed it, Pokémon is not owned by me! None of the characters except for Zoe and her father are mine. The story, however, is mine.  
  
Author's Notes:   
  
I personally do not believe that Jessie and James are a couple, just to clear that up with rocketshippys. My reasons are that they never actually make it obvious that they like each other like with Ash and Misty. I tried to express this through the scene with the cliff. I hope that can let some people see my personal point of view a bit better! (though I'm not denying that a good rocketshipper story doesn't cheer me up once in a while...)  
  
If you want to kind of know what Jessie's Song sounds like, then I can kind of say this… think of the second half of "Layla". Now combined that with The Theme from M*A*S*H. I don't know how much that can help, but it's something like that, and enough people have asked.   
  
Feedback: Did you like it? I want to know. You don't know how much I love to hear the sound of "You've Got Mail". If you DIDN'T like it, let me know! If you have any questions about things you didn't understand let me know! And if you REALLY liked it, then you can ask for some of my original work. My currant project is an original musical called "Fortune and Fame".  
  
~Chrisanthanum (GeniuswithaJ@aol.com) or, if you have AOL or AIM, my screen name is Genius with a J.  



End file.
